Harry Potter and the Scars of the Past
by 1967HogwartsGoddess
Summary: After a horrific summer, Harry tries to get better in time for his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Can his friends help? Will Harry ever recover? And more importantly, will Harry get the family he so desperately deserves? Part 1 in the Not all Heroes wear Capes series.
1. Trains and Goodbyes

**Hi, this is I. This is my first fic! This contains many ideas i've had about Harry Potter. Next chapter will be up soon. It's raining and my makeup is all smudged.** **Also Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just playing around.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 1- Not all heroes wear capes

It was the end of June, the start of the summer holidays. The bright sun was vibrant in the sky, casting warm glows over everything and putting most people in a very good mood. Everyone was looking forwards to kicking their feet up and just relaxing for a few months. The exams were over and they got to spend time with friends and family. However, not everyone was happy.

Harry sighed despondently as the red Hogwarts Express pulled into the station. His breath misted up the window like a ghost. The constant clackety-clack rhythm he had been listening to attentively slowed to a glide. He slowly sat up, pulling his head away from the cool window where he had simply watched the scenery blur past for the entire journey. He had placed his head there as soon as he sat in the compartment and didn't talk as his friends joined him. Hermione jumped next to him, snapping her head round. "I thought you were asleep!" She said, looking curiously at him and putting down the thick leather book she had been studying diligently. It was something about Arithmancy Harry didn't understand. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine, just didn't feel like talking." Harry responded. He didn't feel like doing anything lately. Not after what had happened. The past year had been rough. First, he had been entered in a Tournament that was for much older, much wiser and much more powerful students. Then, Ron had turned his back on him, along with most of the school. It had been worse than second year when everyone had found out that he was a parseltongue. The first task had nearly killed him- who the hell puts one of the most vicious dragons in the world against a fourteen year old boy? At least Ron had come to his senses, though their relationship was shaky for a while.

The second task had been nerve-wracking. He barely knew how to swim- his relatives had never taken him. And he was supposed to jump into a massive lake full of horrible sea creatures to save his best friend? It would have helped him if he had realised that the judges would not let the hostages die, but his faith in them had died after-oh yeah- they set a massive man-eating Hungarian Horntail on him. He had nearly run out of breath and died. Again.

The third task had brutally opened his eyes to the horrors that lurked in the world. Stuff you were supposed to see when you were older, much older. Or, if you were lucky, not at all. It replayed in his mind constantly and he tried to hide it from everyone. Boggarts, acromantulas, blast ended skrewts and Sphinxes he could deal with. But the rest? He just kept seeing Cedric, spread-eagled on the ground, _bow to death Harry,_ his parents, _Crucio,_ the agonizing pain that had torn his body apart limb from limb, flash of green, _kill the spare_ , eyes open yet unseeing-

"Harry, mate, you don't look so good." Ron said in from across the seats where he was playing chess with Ginny. It wasn't that much of a game; Ron had won the last 5 games easily. Ginny just wouldn't give up. "You look at bit peaky and all that." Ron offered. Ginny nodded. Harry rolled his eyes "I'm fine!" he said slightly more forcefully. "We're here now anyway."

They all glanced up out of the window and looked surprised. Harry guessed they were too immersed in their activities to notice. He wished he could disappear into something like that and forget the world. Quidditch helped him, there was nothing like swooping through the sky weightlessly to ease your mind, but he was going to the Dursleys again. Dumbledore hadn't let him go anywhere else, for _protection_ he said. Unfortunately for Harry, that meant no quidditch, no magic and no happiness. Great. He stood up wearily and pulled his trunk off the top with a sharp tug, Ron copying his movements simultaneously. Ron turned to him after helping him pull Hedwig down.

"Harry, mum says you can come stay at the burrow at some point this summer too. She hates it when you go back there, mate"

"Really?" Harry replied, his mood perking up a little, as he stroked Hedwig's feathers through the thin bars. "When?" .

Ron shrugged and said "I don't know. We haven't been given details but well get you over as soon as possible. You too, Hermione" Ron added as an after thought. "Mum just _adores_ Harry and she loves having more girls in the house. She says she feels outnumbered." They all chuckled. Mrs Weasley, with a husband and 6 sons, was very overwhelmed. She had Ginny, but Ginny tended to play quidditch more than play with dolls. She had learned from her brothers and was more of a tomboy. Having Hermione over, who disapproved of Quidditch, probably made her feel a lot more balanced. And it was true that she fussed over Harry a lot more- he didn't know why, but she just did. Harry slid the carriage door open and slowly led the way onto the platform.

Sure enough, Mrs Weasley beamed at him and gave him one of her trademark rib-crushing hugs. He had never told anyone that she and Hermione had given him his first hugs. He suppposed his parents had hugged him but it wasn't as if he could remember. Mrs Weasley's curly red hair brushed the top of his back. The twins were already there and were snickering at Harry's deep blush. Mrs Weasley held his shoulders softly and looked him straight in the eye."Harry dear, make sure you eat enough this summer. You always come back looking so thin. We'll try to have you over as soon as possible, I don't like it when you go to those people" she said, echoing Ron from earlier.

Harry blushed heavily at the fondness and caring in her voice and ducked his head shyly. He was still not entirely used to all the contact and care- it was hard to erase over ten years of the hate and violence he had recieved from his apathetic relatives. The twins exchanged mischevious glances. There was some unspoken communication between their identical freckled faces and they barged their way over and also hugged him tightly. They grinned. George pulled out a hanky and mopped his dry eyes, fake sobbing. Fred turned to him and said an uncanny imitation of his mother "Harrykins, make sure you eat all your food-"

"-You're ever so skinny-"George chimed in.

"-Just like a rake-"

"And cross your fingers you become prefect!" George finished off with another sniffle. Their mother batted them away and Harry shook his head at their antics. As they walked through the wall connecting the two worlds, Harry felt depressed, like he always did when he went back to the muggles. As soon as they reached the other side and made sure everyone was present, Hermione turned to Harry. She flung her arms around him and he patted her back. She had tears in her warm brown eyes when she said

"Harry, just know that we're all here for you, okay? Make sure you write, don't let those horrid muggles stop you. We just want to know how you are, even if it's just a sentence."

With that, she flung her arms around him one more time. She then hugged Ron who went scarlet. "You make sure you get him over to your house as soon as possible!" she whispered into his ear before withdrawing. She said her goodbyes and walked off with her parents.

The Weasleys were chatting amongst themselves, so Harry grabbed the twins and pulled them aside. They looked at him quizzically, the expression reflected. Harry grabbed the sack of 1000 galleons and pressed it into the nearest twins hand quickly. He-Fred looked scandalised.

"Harry!" He whispered, shocked. "What are you doing?"

Harry glared at him (or tried to) and Fred was taken aback by the sadness in his emerald eyes. It silenced him which gave Harry the chance to explain.

"Look, please take it. I don't want it or need it. It would- it would just be a reminder of the entire bloody Tournament. Please. Set up your joke shop, it's your dream, remember?"

George stared at him then said "You're actually serious?" Harry nodded.

"Harry, man, no way! It's yours, we couldn't-"

Harry cut him off. "Just have it, please! Buy Ron some new dress robes, then make everyone a little bit happier. Trust me, we're going to need a lot more laughs in the future."

The twins were disbelieving but eventually accepted it, though they muttered the word "Barmy" repeatedly. They returned to the larger group, who were all just wrapping up their own conversations. Mrs Weasley's face tightened and Harry didn't need to look behind him to know that the Dursleys had arrived. He smiled, though it may have been more of a grimace, at the Weasleys and said his goodbyes. This involved a hug from Ron who said around the same as Hermione but a little bit less girly. Harry opened Hedwig's cage and held her on his finger.

"Girl, we're going to the Dursleys. Can you fly to number 4, and I'll meet you there as soon as I can?"

Hedwig hooted and outstretched her snowy white wings. She took off, and flew out of the platform window into the sky. Harry envied her. He wished he could fly without a broom, have the ability to go anywhere...

Soon the Weasley family were gone, after shooting the Dursleys angry looks. Harry reluctantly walked towards his relatives. They gave him a face you would give to a dirty sock, and they walked back to their car without a word. Harry trailed behind them, left to lug his heavy trunk by himself. The Dursleys missed the annoyed looks various families gave them, and continued to walk on in silence.

However as soon as the posh cream car door closed, Uncle Vernon sent Harry an all-too familiar hate-filled glare. He grabbed Harry's arm tightly, probably leaving bruises and shoved him into the side of the car door. Harry harmlessly bounced off it, and inwardly sighed. Of course. The ton-tongue toffee. How could he think his uncle could have forgotten that? No doubt, his stay with the Dursleys would be even worse this year. He just hoped his Uncle wouldn't be too violent, not with the Weasleys ready to pick him up so soon. The last thing he needed was for people to ask about certain injuries or, heaven forbid, the strange scars that had been ever so lovingly belted into Harry's back.

As they set off quickly down the road, Harry's Uncle Vernon started up another one of his rants, his purple face twitching in anger. His moustache bristled violently and his chin wobbled as he spat out the words "-Ruddy freaks, hugging you in public, I'm telling you boy, one more, you'll get it, after that incident with Dudley's tongue, and you'll be out, you hear me, good beating, we put up with you-"

Harry blocked his uncle's harsh words out for a while. It was a skill he had developed after a while and it certainly came in useful over the years. These ravings were nothing new, and the words buzzed mutely in his tired head. Dudley was as far away from him as possible in the back seat, pressed against the opposite car door as if he might catch something. Clearly he hadn't forgotten about the Ton-Tongue-Toffee either. Aunt Petunia had yet to say a word to him; she sat in the front, her face pinched like a lemon and her lips pursed. Harry leant his head against the hard window, retaking his earlier position, and let his tense muscles relax slightly. He felt homesick and missed Hogwarts already.

They were driving down a busy road among other cars. The road had trees surrounding it, thick trunks of wood rising from the grassy terrain. Harry was drifting into an uneasy sleep when it happened.

Suddenly the car swerved, and Harry's head slammed against the window heavily and shattered the thick safety glass, sending white stars into his vision. The bloody shards of glass glittered like rubies. The car quickly veered across the road drunkenly. Harry felt dizzy and cold, a familiar feeling. They hit a ditch at almost full speed, and the impact bucked the back end up violently. The car flipped over like a mechanical acrobat and rolled several times before coming to rest on its wonky buckled roof. Flashes of green light burst around the area, and several cars burst into flame. Screams echoed around before complete silence fell. Only the crackles of fire could be heard, sending up smoky pillars into the night sky. The surrounding environment settled around the Dursley's car and there was no movement from the occupants within…

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Dun dun dunnnnn! Reviews help me sleep, flames keep me warm and I hope everyone is being fabulous!**


	2. Kidnaps and Chains

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of this, just playing around.**

 **Here it is, Chapter 2. I reckon I could make it to chapter 3 at least tonight. In the words of Chuck from Supernatural 'Writing is hard!'.**

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Chapter 2

Harry groaned roughly as the throbbing in his head made its presence known. He blearily opened his swollen eyes and vaguely took in the wreckage. Many cars had stopped around them and there were voices nearby, their words sending sharp jolts of pain to his brain. He wriggled slightly to get a clearer focus on what hurt and whimpered softly. His leg hurt awfully and was at a very awkward angle. He could feel something poking out along his ribs. His head felt very thick and heavy and some kind of metallic-smelling liquid dribbled quickly down into his eyes.

An intense cold swept over Harry. His breath caught in his chest. The cold went beneath his skin, into his very heart… Harry's eyes rolled upwards slightly and there was a rushing sound in his ears, that blocked out everything but _Not Harry, not Harry please not Harry Bow to death Harry Avada Kedavra-_

Then it stopped and Harry breathed a ragged sigh of relief as feeling came back into his body. His relief was short lived however as someone roughly grabbed him by the arm and pulled harshly him through the shattered window. Harry moaned, and tried to jerk away but was too weak.

A voice hissed smugly into his ear as he closed his eyes as pain flowed through his nerves "You didn't think we'd actually let you leave in June, did you Potter?"

Harry's skin crawled and he froze. It was Lucius Malfoy, though his poisonous voice was mildly muffled. Harry guessed he was wearing his death eater mask. Crap. Harry's blood ran cold. This was an attack- Dementors had made the car crash! He was being taken! Another pair of clicking footsteps rushed over then skidded to a stop. A maniacal giggle reached his ears and Harry opened his eyes, squinting. A dangerous looking woman, with tangled dark brown hair and heavy lidded eyes stared at him hungrily. She looked gaunt, yet had an evil glint in her eye. To say Harry was shocked would be an understatement- this was Bellatrix Lestrange! She was supposed to be in Azkaban, in one of the high security cells! There must have been a breakout!

She stepped close to Harry, who was weakly on his knees, only supported by Lucius's hand on his shoulder. There were other Death Eaters in the distance, laughing. She ran a long finger over Harry's sweaty forehead, and then dug her sharp filthy nails into an open cut. Pain rippled across his head and Harry squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to jerk his head away feebly. More blood gushed down his face as Lucius's voice rang out, cold and ordering.

"Bella, stop playing! We must get him to the Dark Lord immediately before any more muggles come."

Bellatrix sent him a calculating glance, still ripping parts of skin from around Harry's cut off painfully.

Lucius elucidated. "As much fun as it would be, we don't want to attract too much attention, now do we Bella? Wouldn't want to get thrown back in Azkaban."

Harry realised with a sick feeling that all the muggles who had come to check out the crash were dead. The road was eerily silent, like a graveyard for abandoned cars. A stoat patronus strutted about regally (probably Malfoy's) casting a strange white glow over the empty road and a heap of twisted metal that was once the car he was riding in. There was a lot of blood on the glass and Harry's concussed brain couldn't think why.

Bella pouted but withdrew her now bloody finger. Lucius gripped Harry around the neck and shoulder painfully. Just before they went, Harry could've sworn he saw some other death eaters drag someone out of the car he was in. The next thing he knew everything was black then white then black, a multitude of colours buzzed wildly against his eyes; he was being pressed very hard from all directions; his eyes and ears being flattened against his head; the air being forced out of him. It was like being shoved down a constricting rubber tube and then-

Harry desperately gulped oxygen into his lungs gratefully and opened his watering eyes. He guessed he had just been made to apparate. He was in a dark cavernous room, with high white marble arches and burning torches flickering, sending malevolent shadows dancing like demons against the walls. The floor was cold and hard. Lucius smiled nastily at him and, with Bellatrix on the other side, grabbed his arm and dragged him down the wide hallway. Harry stumbled, falling, trying to walk only to fall again. Bellatrix's nails pierced bare skin, sending small rivulets of blood dribbling down his arm. His leg screamed in protest and Harry let out disorientated groans every now and then. They descended a smooth staircase, Harry in agony and barely able to breathe, then halted joltingly in front of a door. Harry was on his knees, stuttering unintelligible gasps.

The door was thick metal, with heavy bars slammed across a narrow gap. The door opened slowly revealing a pitch black room. "Lumos." Lucius whispered, illuminating the cell creepily. Harry knew for sure it was a cell now, for the only thing in the room were tough metal manacles on the wall. Even though struggling was useless, Harry fruitlessly twisted in their grasps. But to no avail. One manacle was clamped onto his wrist within seconds of the other. They burned when he tugged weakly and the undersides cut into his wrists awfully. He could reach the floor, and fell to his knees painfully, with a terrible thump that echoed in the bare room. The death eaters smirked at his beaten and bloody state. "I think we'll have a lot of fun, mudblood!" Lucius sneered hatefully. Harry was barely conscious enough to register it, a heavy pounding in the back of his skull distracting him.

"Don't worry baby Potter," Bellatrix's voice gained the type of tone you would use on a child, though she somehow made it sound cruel, with the insanity lurking behind her eyes. "We'll be back to visit, promise! And not just us. I think a whole lot of us will be _very_ eager to see you!" She backhanded him viciously across the face, splitting his lip and drawing a cry through clenched teeth. And with that, she and Lucius turned and left him alone.

The door slammed shut heavily, plunging the room into a thick veil of darkness that glued itself to Harry's eyes. He couldn't see his own feet, or even his nose. It was deathly silent, and Harry released a groan of pain as he sat back on his knees. It disappeared into the atmosphere and Harry suddenly felt very lonely, very vulnerable and very scared. He couldn't get comfy on such an awkward angle, not to mention his broken bones grating horribly, and his arms were very cold up in the air. The blood was slowly draining from them and his fingertips were tingling. He leant back on the icy stone wall that sent a shiver of shock through him, and exhaled as hard as he could without disturbing his crushed ribs. He hoped someone would find him soon…

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Yeah, soz Harry but I doubt that. Up next: Whatever will the order do?**


	3. Meetings and Worries

**Disclaimer: I own my computer, a go ahead bar and… not Harry potter**

 **2 follows already? That's like, 2 an hour! Cool!**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 3

Sirius Black paced impatiently across the cramped kitchen in his ancestral home, 12 Grimmauld Place. It was a miserable old house that contained very little happy memories for him. It was currently the base of operations for the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization for fighting Voldemort. It wasn't in very good shape though. The mad house elf Kreacher kept stealing various heirlooms as he was obsessed with the Black line, and the portrait of Sirius' mother (Walburga Black) screamed various insults at anyone who came close or even opened the door. The whole house was very traditional, yet dusty and full of dark objects and creatures. It was no environment to be raised in or to bring kids into.

This was not the reason why Sirius was upset, no; Sirius was upset because of what had happened earlier…

 _2:30 pm, roughly half an hour after the dementor attack:_

Padfoot ran swiftly along the corridor, keeping pace with his long term friend Remus Lupin. His tail was between his legs and one would think it very odd for a dog to look so desperate. However this was no ordinary dog- this was an animagus. An animagus was a witch or wizard that could turn into one animal at will. And this particular animagus was no other than twelve-year Azkaban resident, Harry Potter's Godfather, Sirius Black. And he was extremely worried.

Around five minutes ago, Albus Dumbledore had floo-called them with a grave message- Harry was missing. He had left without another word, startling the pair thoroughly, so they had to extract more details in person. They approached the monumental golden griffin and Remus rapidly fired off sweets frantically until they got the right answer (cockroach cluster). They ascended the stairs quickly and dashed through the door. It appeared as thought the rest of the Order was there. They were all throwing questions about, Tonks with bright nervously colour-changing hair, Kingsley looking calm and collected as usual and the Weasleys in a panic over their 'almost-son/brother'. There were more but Padfoot was focused on one thing.

Dumbledore was at the centre of it all, discussing possible places for Harry to be. His eyes had lost their twinkle, and he looked grave. Padfoot shifted to Sirius, effectively announcing their arrival and silencing the whole room at the same time. Remus growled out, his amber eyes flashing "Where is Harry?" Everyone turned to Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked over his half moon glasses at his former students and sighed wearily. "We do not know. It seems dementors attacked his relatives' car. It had rolled over multiple times, sadly killing Harry's Uncle and cousin." They had a shocked moment of silence where Molly Weasley put a hand over her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. Sirius closed his eyes briefly- Harry did not need this. He had lost so much already. Dumbledore continued sadly "Harry and his aunt were missing, although traces of their blood were found." Everyone gasped at this and imaginations went haywire. "Muggles around the crash were either soulless or struck down by the killing curse. We have no choice but to assume this is the work of Lord Voldemort and his followers. The dementors have seemingly joined him. It is suspected Harry is with them." Everyone looked stunned, and many people had horrified expressions. First the Azkaban break out and now this? All worried for Harry's safety.

Remus was speechless at the death toll, but Sirius had gotten used to it in Azkaban. People died everyday there, from suicide to starvation. Those two in particular were very common. "Where could Harry be?" He snarled, his eyes dangerously sharp. He had spent 12 years in a cell being mentally tortured; he didn't want to think of Harry in a cell being physically tortured. Ever. Dumbledore observed him for an infuriating second before answering wearily "There are many places. Voldemort had many hideouts over the First War, too many to record. Our chances of finding Harry are slim but we will try"

"W-will he be okay?" Tonks stammered, still in shock over Harry's possible… circumstances. She had not met him but from everything she had heard, she already felt protective over this unlucky kid. Not really a kid anymore, she thought.

"I expect he will be forced to give information- possibly some he doesn't have. But I think Voldemort is too weak to kill him yet. Harry may not know it but that fight in the graveyard drained Voldemort immensely. He had only just regained his body; his magic was a little stunted. We may have a time when rescuing Harry and his Aunt can be possible, but we will not have long."

"He might escape!" Bill Weasley chimed in. He had joined the order along with his younger brother Charlie as soon as they had heard of Voldemort's rebirth. "I mean, this is Harry! He can escape from nearly anything! Quirrel, the Chamber, a dragon, merpeople and the third task! If anyone can get out of this, he can."

Many people nodded, some in awe as they had not heard some of these feats before, but Dumbledore remained solemn. Before he could say anything, Snape hissed at them "The Dark Lord would have been prepared this time- he knows not to underestimate Potter. Besides, there would be wards up. You can't just apparate in or out without being keyed into the wards. Unless Potter somehow floos his way out of a probably heavily guarded fireplace, Potter has a nearly impossible chance of escaping."

Remus furiously snarled at Snape "We shouldn't give up that easily! Can't you give him a portkey or something?" He hated the idea of what Harry was going through.

Snape's onyx eyes bored into him steadily "No I can't, Wolf. I'm under too much suspicion as it is. Perhaps you'd like to spy, having your life constantly on the line, instead of sitting at home with the mutt, 'cleaning' –"

Dumbledore cut him off with a wave of his hand just as Sirius' was reaching for his wand. He had had enough "This isn't helping. We need to have a plan to check all the areas that we know of to check for Harry and his Aunt-"

The rest of the emotional meeting was devoted to planning what they would do if they could find Harry, or if he could escape, if they could get him out and if anyone would notice and start a battle. There were too many if's in this plan, Sirius thought moodily.

So now Sirius was back in his hated house, waiting desperately for any news on Harry, please, any at all. They had sent out small teams to scout possible locations, only Sirius couldn't go because he was on house arrest. Snape took great pleasure in rubbing in that fact. Sirius wanted to punch him, but Remus held him back, yelling about how it wasn't going to help Harry.

One by one, the teams arrived all bearing the same frowns and the same news- no signs of them. They all apologised as they received the same look of heartbreak and despair from Sirius, who felt like he was losing Lily and James all over again. He would do anything to be out there, looking for Harry, helping, doing _anything_ , but Dumbledore had pointed out that it would not do any good for him to get caught. He hated this. Sirius sat down and put his head on his arms, slumping forwards. They just had to find Harry. They just had to.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Eeek, my muse is leaving me. Probably some torture next then a time jump cuz im running outa ideas for the Order.**


	4. Pain and Sarcasm

**Disclaimer: No tengo derecho a Harry Potter, simplemente voy a jugar con el cuento**

 **Ughhh my brother won't get out the shower…**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 4

Harry awoke with a jolt, hands bitterly cold as the blood couldn't circulate properly in his painful position. It was daylight so he got a good look around- it turned out that there was a very small window at the top of his cell, letting small beams of warm light play across the floor. If he squinted and leant forwards precariously, he could see the tops of some trees, slicing up the orangey morning sky. The entire room was made of a cool grey stone- undoubtedly impenetrable. He couldn't reach the door at all without taking off his restraints, and he didn't think it would move, no matter what he did to it. It seemed the type of door you could blow up with TNT and it would still stay standing. Probably escape proof.

His leg and ribs still raged lividly with pain but Harry grew used to it. He wished the same could be said for his head; it felt as if his brain was ricocheting violently around his skull, and chipping parts of it off every time it landed. Shifting slightly the left to alleviate the stress on his broken right leg, the cursed chains burned harshly into his wrists, making him gasp out loud, and they clinked loudly.

A face instantly appeared through the miniscule door window- a fat balding face with watery eyes. "Wormtail!" Harry hissed, his voice hoarse from the groans that had escaped him. The man in question flinched slightly at Harry's recognition, and the utter loathing in his voice, but opened the door nevertheless. He raised his stubby wand shakily and undid the chains with an Alohamora. Harry's arms fell limply to his side. He wrapped them around his chest and rubbed his numb hands together, still glaring intensely at Wormtail.

"The D-dark L-lord has reques-sted your presen-nce." Wormtail stammered, not able to meet Harry's hate filled stare. Harry guessed it was his resemblance to his father that put Wormtail off, and mentally thanked his father's genes. With a flick of his wand and a hastily muttered incantation, Harry was put in an excruciatingly painful full-body-bind then levitated upwards. He floated through the door, down a corridor, turned a corner, another corridor… Harry stopped counting after the 10th corner, and began to wonder if Voldemort purposely made his house into a labyrinth. It was almost as bad as Gringotts.

Eventually, they stopped before an emerald green door with a silver serpent knocker on it. Harry rolled his eyes. Voldemort was such a drama queen, he thought sarcastically. Wormtail knocked and a cold voice answered "Enter!"

Voldemort. He was spread out on a throne of some sort, silver with black engravings. He looked very much like a stereotypical villain. Lucius was on his left, Bellatrix on his right. They were obviously his right hand lieutenants. He sent Wormtail scurrying off hastily with an icy glance, locked the door with a silent Colloportus and released Harry from his Body-Bind. Harry collapsed to the ground awkwardly, holding back a grunt, but gradually stood up, his legs and ribs on fire. Voldemort smirked at him and Harry rolled his eyes again, this time making sure everyone saw.

"What do you want?" He gritted out, patience barely controlled. Voldemort narrowed his blood red eyes at the blatant disrespect and threw a Cruciatus curse at Harry which he ducked easily. "I want answers, Harry. All the answers you have about the Order, about the Prophecy and especially about you." Harry was confused. The Order? A prophecy? But when it came to the question about him, he fought to control a snigger. "Very well" he said, multiple answers running through his brain. Voldemort's eyes narrowed even further whereas Lucius' and Bellatrix's widened. "Hi, my name is Harry Potter, I'm a Leo, I enjoy long walks on the beach-"Harry ducked yet another Cruciatus curse, this time more powerful. He chuckled from his position on the floor. "Perhaps Bella can change your mind, Potter" Voldemort sneered angrily.

Harry started to regret his sarcastic tendencies when Bellatrix peeled herself away from her master and stalked towards him, like a lioness would stalk its prey. Without warning, though it wasn't like he expected one, she had him at wand point. "Crucio!" She cried, furious at his disrespect for her master.

The familiar yet brand new pain exploded along Harry. Every nerve was being severed, his skin was being peeled off, his muscles stretched, bones twisting, crunching, and Harry just wanted it all to end, please-then it was over- Harry lay panting on the floor, blood dripping off his lip where he realised he had bitten through it. It was painful but not as painful as Voldemort's. Lucius was snickering quietly and Voldemort was cruelly smiling. Bellatrix was looking at her master for approval, like a puppy, and he nodded regally.

She turned her wand on him again.

Crucio, Diffindo, Defodio, Confringo, Crucio, Deprimo, Expulso, Sectumsempra, stinging hexes, Reducto, Diffindo, Crucio- they all blurred into each other seamlessly. Harry was under the last Cruciatus, convulsing violently in a shocking red pool of his own blood, when Voldemort held up a hand and finally stopped Bellatrix's barrage of spells. Harry bit his lip as searing pain burrowed into him from every angle. Blood fell out his nose in thick ropes onto the floor and Harry shuddered, resisting the urge to curl up in the fetal position.

"Has that loosened up your idiotic tongue yet Harry?" Voldemort drawled, sounding vaguely amused. Harry looked up at him and made a decision that would affect his entire stay there:

"No."

"I can drive you to the brink of insanity multiple times, Potter! Use common sense for once in your impedingly short life and tell me what you know! Save yourself some agony before you die!" Voldemort seemed both unsurprised by Harry's unwillingness to give up answers and annoyed at _the fact_ Harry hadn't given up answers "Crucio" He snarled at the boy he hated above everyone else. Harry was in too much pain to move and it hit him square in the chest. It was far stronger than it was in the graveyard, far stronger than Bellatrix's and Harry screamed loudly, the type of scream that others would flinch at. Lucius, Bellatrix and Voldemort however merely smiled sadistically at the thrashing boy.

The curse was removed after a minute, which could be potentially dangerous for Harry. The Longbottom's minds had cracked after 10 minutes of intense torture- a shocking amount of time- the longest anyone had ever been under. The spell required a lot of fuel and concentration, something Bellatrix, her husband, her brother and Barty Crouch Jnr unfortunately had a lot of that night. For a teenager, it could take a lot less to break the mind.

Harry sunk into a grey oblivion, just after he vaguely heard Voldemort give the order to get information, no matter how. Information Harry didn't even have- not that he would give it up if he did know but all the same. Many death eaters he hadn't even known were in the room responded, most sounding very eager to get their hands and weapons on the famous Boy-Who-Lived. _Goddammit_ **,** Harry thought, _I'm going to die here or go insane…_

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **I'm gonna go to bed now, probs update tomorrow after horse riding! Bye!**


	5. Firewhiskey and Tears

**Sorry I didn't update when I said I would but I forgot I had to go camping for my Duke of Edinburgh award. It was horrible- blisters, mud and extreme back, ankle and shoulder pain. I had to take a day off school cuz I couldn't walk!**

 **Anyway, here's the next chapter. Onwards!**

 **Warning: Swearing**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 5

Sirius Black pushed a shaking hand through his greasy hair roughly and took another deep swig of his large bottle of firewhisky. 2 months. It had been nearly 2 months since Harry had been taken. Anything could have happened to him, and they might never see him again. They had celebrated his 15th birthday with a small and very subdued party, but if anything, that had made everyone feel worse. They were all losing hope, and Snape hadn't been summoned so no-one knew Harry's whereabouts or condition. Sirius just wanted to know one thing, anything, just to know how his godson was doing, what condition he was in.

The one thing they knew for sure is that he wasn't dead. Voldemort would have (Sirius shuddered at the thought) _paraded_ Harry's body around smugly if that had happened. He would've made sure everyone knew. At best, he was in a dungeon being left alone. But, Sirius thought morbidly, they all knew better than that. They all knew the, uh, _special care_ that death eaters treated their guests with. And lots of them, probably all of them, had a bone or two to pick with Harry.

It was now August 21st, in the early hours of the morning. The sun was just rising slightly, bathing the room in a soft warm glow that didn't quite reach Sirius. The kids were going back to school in 10 days, not that they wanted to go without Harry. They had point blank refused to even buy their things for the next school year. They didn't want to go to Diagon Alley without Harry.

Sirius took another swig of the fiery alcohol, his woozy senses being dulled by the second. Horrific images of a mangled Harry swept through his mind, each more graphic and bloody than the previous. Sirius just wished they weren't true. Harry would be okay, he had to be, he was a survivor…

"Padfoot? Have you been here all night?"

Moony's voice broke the thick sadness that had filled the room. Brief surprise flashed across his haunted face; Sirius didn't even hear him come downstairs. Moony looked bad- he had a sadness surrounding him and he had even more werewolf-induced scars than usual. By the look on his face, Sirius looked even worse. He hadn't shaved and the grime on his face was streaked with the grief-filled tears he had shed over the past months. With a flick of Moony's wand and a tiredly uttered 'scourgify', Sirius felt the dirt and stubble leave him. It felt like his face was just lightly sandpapered.

"Sirius, you can't carry on like this. You need to take care of yourself. What would Harry say?"

"I don't know, but I sure would love to ask him. Until I get the chance, think I'll carry on" Sirius growled, the booze hitting him harder with every word he released.

"Sirius, Harry-"

"Just fuck off! Don't even mention Harry to me! He's prob'ly dead!" Sirius yelled drunkenly, throwing the nearly empty bottle against the wall with an almighty smash.

Remus twitched slightly at the sudden noise, his eyes full of worry, but retained his calming stance. He walked over to Sirius, and helped the now sobbing man to his feet, tears of his own welling up. Harry's disappearance had affected them all greatly. Ron and Hermione ran in, wands at the ready, only to put them down when they saw the two men. Their faces were instantly worried and scared and Remus quickly realised what they were thinking.

"There's no further news on Harry, this isn't…" Remus trailed off, unwilling to even consider the possibility of Harry's death. He cared for Harry deeply, remembering when he was 'Unca' Moo'ey' and Harry's cute baby face lit up with joy whenever he saw him. He was such a happy baby, everyone loved him. He was as mischievous as his dad and as inquisitive as his mother. When they had reunited, Remus couldn't refuse when 13 year old Harry asked him to teach him the Patronus charm.

Remus had not seen him for 12 years, since that fateful night. Harry looked skinnier, a lot taller and slightly haunted. Remus had since heard what Harry had already been through, and wanted to kick Dumbledore. How could he let that happen to Harry, in his school? He understood why Harry looked like that. Yet he retained his parent's traits, even if they only came out once in awhile. He had the same face James would make whenever he was plotting something. It always made Remus smile.

He had tried desperately to contact Harry as a child, but could never find him. He had never asked anyone, as he didn't have that many friends after that fateful night, and couldn't walk into the ministry and ask, what with being a werewolf and all that. There was no chance in him tracking Harry down- he could be anywhere. He might have even left the country. It never occurred to him to ask Dumbledore and he still punched himself mentally for it.

He had developed a friend/mentor relationship with Harry, and had been so proud when Harry did anything, whether it was quidditch, the patronus or saving Sirius. He couldn't be happier for him. They had lost a lot of contact after he had regretfully left Hogwarts, sometimes sending letters to him and Sirius. All Remus knew about the previous year was that Harry had had an extraordinary amount of pressure on his shoulders and saw a friend die. That had to be gnawing away at the kid, and Remus wished for the thousandth time that Harry was here. He may not be his godfather, but he was on the same level of caring.

Unwillingly throwing off the nostalgia, Remus glanced up again at Harry's two best friends. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron reminded him of Sirius and James, and Hermione reminded him of himself, with a little bit of Lily. Harry couldn't have chosen better friends. However now they were emotional messes, frowns and tears constantly appearing. Ron returned his gaze and said in a broken voice-

"Professor, are you sure there's no further news? Not even from Snape or the Daily prophet?"

Remus shook his head. The Daily Prophet had caught wind of Harry's disappearance and had blasted it across every page for weeks. Now they only printed the fact that Harry was probably faking it for attention- just like he was faking the fact that Voldemort was back. The reminder of the Minister's foolishness made Remus's blood boil- could he endanger the public any more?

A dead weight sagged heavily against Remus and he snapped his eyes downwards to see an unconscious Sirius slumping against him. He hoisted him dutifully to his feet and put an arm round his waist. Ron and Hermione rushed forwards, and together they pushed/pulled Sirius upstairs. He bumped into the wall frequently on the stairs, waking some portraits up. They reached his poster-filled room and shoved him into his bed. Sirius didn't wake up the entire time.

As they tucked him under the warm duvet to sleep off his hangover, they all sat down on the end of the bed in a morbid silence. Remus felt like saying something, but couldn't work up the courage. Hermione pulled absently at a loose thread on Sirius's Gryffindor bedspread, then, without looking directly at him, asked:

"Professor Lupin, do you- I mean- is Harry- is he- will he be okay?" she got out eventually, turning pleading chocolate brown eyes onto him. Remus struggled to meet her tear filled stare, and lowered his head in anguish. He had been asking himself the same question for weeks and wished he could give a stronger answer.

"I don't know Hermione. We can only hope."

She nodded, pursing her lips, then got up and left, obviously unhappy. Tears fell to the floor. She wanted straight answers, not guesses or hopes. Ron stared after her sadly, and then shook his head. "She hasn't even done her homework this summer. She just stares off into space. The rest of the family is the same- we just all want Harry back." He told Remus.

The Weasley family indeed had been suffering badly. Molly and Arthur felt like they had lost one of their own, Bill and Charlie were trying to cheer them up, Percy had left to work at the ministry but came home every once in a while as not even he could watch his family be so sad. The twins were oddly quiet, which gave the whole house a very uneasy feeling. Ron, of course, was devastated along with Hermione. Ginny had taken things especially bad- she and Harry had become slightly closer friends over the course of last year. She had helped him practise spells for the Triwizard Tournament and had taught him her trademark Bat-Bogey-Hex, something she had never done to anyone else.

Remus listened carefully to the words now overflowing from Ron's mouth. It was if he had been holding back the words for a while.

"It's just that Harry was always there y'know? He's saved our lives tonnes of times and he's honestly the nicest person you'll ever meet. He forgave me for last year just like that. His hair is constantly messy. He can't play chess. He is actually pretty good at potions, but Snape hates him so he marks down his grades in class. He's good at magic; he leaves his socks about and never complains when I snore! Why him? Why does everything bad happen to him? He doesn't deserve it!"

Ron was shouting by the end of his heartfelt speech, and tears were sliding unabashedly down his face while gestured wildly. Remus's heart was breaking throughout, and he made a promise to himself that they would find Harry. They had to- it was tearing everyone apart, even those who had never met him. There was sadness over the whole house and they all felt depressed. No-one realise how much Harry brightened up a room. Ron left silently, unable to be in contact with anyone else. He needed to be alone until Harry could be with him. Remus too had tears rolling down his nose. He stared at Sirius's heavily breathing form and whispered hoarsely to the universe an important question that he felt like screaming from the rooftops:

"Where are you, Harry?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Next chapter coming real soon :)**


	6. Nails and Escapes

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter or anything associated and I am not doing this for profit, just fun. I mean no harm. This applies to the last chapter cuz I forgot, and the rest of the chapters after this because I keep forgetting. So, to reiterate- I own nothing in the next chapters either.**

 **Whoo hoo, I know it's a bit weird but I loved writing this chapter. I just think it was very interesting to write. It's England vs. Slovakia tonight. Come on England!**

 **Warning- pretty bad injury detail and torture-Might change it to M**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 6

Harry screamed as another nail was pushed brutally through the palm of his right hand. It emerged the other side with a sickening squelch and a spray of dark red on the wall behind him. The wall was already very bloody, and some beads ran down it. Harry clenched his teeth tightly and threw a rebellious glare at his main torturer. Bellatrix cackled hatefully, and twisted the nail. Harry yelled loudly in response, his shouts of pain echoing round the now claustrophobic cell. The once clean manacles were heavily coated with blood, along with the various weapon behind. The floor also had various puddles of blood smeared with dragging handprints from where Harry had either fallen or was pulled away from.

As for Harry himself, he was pain personified. The last few months had been sheer agony. He had broken bones, lashes from whips, burns, cuts going down to the muscles, you name it, and he had it. Harry breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when Bella (they had become very familiar with each other) pouted and dropped her cruelly blunt weapons. He had learned enough to know that when Bella stopped torturing he was either on the verge of death, and therefore needed healing just enough to _not die_ , or she was being summoned via the Dark Mark.

She bent over him and ripped the nails out of Harry brutally. There was one deeply embedded in his stomach, four in his hands and one in his cheek. Bella had got more creative as time went by. She found it funny to find new ways to make him scream. Her, Lucius and, of course Voldemort were his main tormentors. Several times a day they would come into the dungeons and torture him for information on himself, the prophecy and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry did not know some of the questions (such as the prophecy or the Order) but knew most of the rest. However, as was expected, he refused point blank to even confirm his name. He had been visited by many death eaters when they got angry at life and needed to take their anger out on something alive. He was the only prisoner- all the rest were dead by the time he had arrived.

It probably didn't help that he had aided another prisoner in trying to escape. She was a terrified little girl, around ten years old, and was dragged into Harry's cell one night. She had dirty brown hair in ragged plaits. There were chains on the other side of the wall that had been unused so far and Harry assumed the death eater who had her was going to lock her up with him.

Harry had been barely conscious but had called out at the death eater who was kicking her, taunting him until he stopped hurting her and began to torture him. She had run out of the door and apparently used the floo to get away. He had gathered from what the death eater was shouting, her name was Marianne. She had very wide brown eyes and a general look of innocence. He had smiled at her weakly through bloody teeth for the first time in around a month as she ran out, and she smiled back gratefully.

Then the death eater started in on him instead, followed by Voldemort who was extremely angry that he had caused her escape. Harry's worse injuries were from his rage. He was a strictly 'magic only' torturer, like 'a wizard should be'. The rest of his death eaters weren't too picky. By now, Harry knew most of the death eaters, and how they liked to torture:

Avery liked whips. There was a very deep lattice in Harry's back (over the one that was already there, of course) after he called Avery 'kinky'. They had viciously beaten the sarcasm out of him after a few weeks but he still liked to make wittty comments in his head. Alecto used her bare hands and stinging hexes. Childish though they may be, many of them on the same place was very painful, Harry had learned. Her brother, Amycus, took the classical 'use the Cruciatus multiple times for very long' approach. Boring yet extremely painful. Harry had developed a tolerance for it after a while though, and now it took several spells to immobilise him.

Crabbe Senior and Goyle Senior were as dumb as their children, and used brute force. They were responsible for many of Harry's broken bones. Barty Crouch Junior was very detailed with his knives, and after sessions with him, Harry was usually very bloody with some new words or patterns carved into his skin. In fact he had engraved a very detailed dark mark onto Harry's arm, which would be something he would have to hide if he ever got out of here.

Dolohov used the Cruciatus, focusing on Harry's bloodshot eyes. Scabior used boiling water, trying to drown Harry frequently.

Greyback used his razor-sharp claws and teeth (Voldemort was very specific not to turn Harry but he suspected there was a tiny bit of wolf in him now- he had a craving for meat) and had left jagged slashes across Harry's face and torso. Rastaban used him as a target for throwing knives. Rodolphus beat him raw with his fists. Macnair also used whips which was especially painful over the rest of his injuries. Lucius used the Cruciatus. Mulciber used the Cruciatus. Nott, Rookwood, Travers, Yaxley all used the Cruciatus. It was very popular.

For some reason Peter didn't show up after the first encounter where he took him to Voldemort. Harry didn't know if he was too ashamed or just wasn't the torturing type. Either way he was grateful that a) there was one less person to torture him and b) he didn't have to see him.

But Bella was by far the worst (after Voldemort but he didn't torture Harry as frequently as she did). She used everything- magic, weapons, her fists and most damaging of all- her body.

Bella had just finished ripping out all the nails, when she leant over Harry. She pulled his bloody cheeks upwards, tugging his neck painfully. Harry closed his eyes and tried to imagine something or someone else but it was no good. Bella kissed him hard on the lips, her hands running everywhere. The force was enough to leave bruises around his lips. It didn't help that his clothes were bloody rags barely held together. She dug her nails into the top of Harry's thighs, drawing blood and a muffled yelp of pain from Harry. She had never raped him but he certainly didn't feel pure after her 'goodbyes'. She pulled away slightly, then bit through the ragged yet soft skin of Harry's lips like butter. Blood flowed like a waterfall immiediately down Harry's heavily tortured front. She cackled, smiling viciously at Harry's shudder of revulsion that always followed the finale to their meeting. Smirking cruelly, she stalked out of his cell, slamming the thick door so hard it bounced back off the locks. Her footsteps echoed away down the halls Harry had come to know so well.

Harry stared at the open door dully for a few seconds before realisation hit him. The door was open. The door. Was open. Door. Open. Unguarded, as there was a meeting going on. They had put a guard by the door because Harry had tried to escape many times. The first time was when they had left his arms unchained, and Harry had attacked some death eaters.

He had actually killed them- Gibbon and Jugson. He had fumbled in their tussles and slammed Gibbon's head into the ground, unaware that he wouldn't open his eyes ever again. Jugson had tried to run for help and Harry had grabbed his foot in his haste to leave, and he had smashed the front of his head onto the doorframe. The angle he fell down on had caused a snapping noise to break the atmosphere, as his neck snapped on the awkward tilt. He had felt guilty. He had eventually been caught looking for a fireplace- this was around three weeks in, so Harry didn't know the place very well. He had memorised it on his second and third attempts, on which he had killed Rowle and Selwyn. He had picked the locks with a knife that had been left behind, and then stabbed Rowle with it in the chest as he saw him try to escape. With a fury that had scared even him, Harry had plunged the knife into his lungs and ripped it across his torso, tearing skin with an alarming ferocity. Bella had found him that time- the punishment was particularly brutal.

The third time, Harry was being brought to Voldemort's throne room for another 'questioning session', when he had somehow broken free of the full Body-Bind. Selwyn had jumped on him heavily and pinned him firmly to the hard marble floor. This was the one death Harry felt truly disgusted at. Not because he had killed him, no, Harry felt no guilt over killing death eaters anymore, not after their 'loving care'. No he felt guilty because of the method of murder. It made him feel sick at himself.

Selwyn had been on him, his sore unused limbs trapped under the larger man's weight. The death eater began harshly spitting out the things he would do to him, a crazed look in his almost feral eyes. This included a detailed rape description. He had just revealed that he had planned to rape little Marianne (he was the death eater who had captured her) when Harry had completely lost it. Weeks of anger and frustration built up then burst out in a violent crescendo. He had thrown his battered head forwards, catching the man by suprise, and with an animalistic war cry, he had bitten deeply into the man's throat. His teeth sank into the warm flesh. And then he ripped out his jugular, jerking his head back sharply. Blood spewed out and the man stared at him in fear and awe before his shocked eyes glazed over like glass. The death eaters had found him methodically crawling his way to the floo, blood dripping from his red teeth, smeared around his chin. It had made him look very dangerous. Many death eaters actually feared him for that, and quite a few stopped torturing him. It seemed they had realised the lengths Harry was willing to go to escape.

Shaking off the traumatic memories, Harry's vision sharpened into the present. Once Harry had stopped staring at the open door and reminiscing, he was fumbling around his chains. When Bella had been slobbering about his mouth, he had hidden a rusty nail that was embedded in his palm. He picked the manacle locks with practised ease, thanks to the escape attempts and the Weasley twins, and his cold red-stained hands fell dully to his lap. He pulled himself along the floor by his grazed elbows, his legs-broken-in-multiple-places trailing behind him. He eventually pushed the heavy metal door aside enough to get through and painfully made his way up the stairs.

Each movement caused great suffering and Harry had to bury his head against his smeared arms many times in order to silence a shout of pure agony. He knew he was leaving a large blood trail, and that meant he had to work fast. He couldn't let his possible escape be ruined by someone noticing. He reached the top of the ornate stairs and weakly smiled- the floo was a few metres away from where he had apparated in with Lucius and Bella.

That seemed as if it was centuries ago.

Harry reached the cold stone encasing the fire, and 'gracefully' pulled himself up to grab a handful of floo powder. He threw it clumsily in the fire, turning it a rich emerald that flickered amazingly. The colours danced untamed and Harry, who could barely remember any colours besides black and red, watched it's beauty in awe. It was mesmerising...

"Hey!" A voice gruffly shouted from behind him. There were footsteps running quicly towards him. Harry flung an arm out behind him desperately, hoping to punch the owner of the death eater's voice he recognised as Rodolphus, Bella's husband and Rastaban's brother.

Harry forgot he had the nail in his hand.

The nail sank deeply into Rodolphus's temple as he lunged at Harry. His movements were cut off, his hands outstretched. His eyes glazed and he fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. A pool of blood rapidly expanded across the cool stone floor, weaving into cracks and lines. He had an intricately engraved knife in his hand that Harry recognized angrily from his sessions with the man- it still had some of his blood on it. Harry slid it out of his cold dead grasp with a strange righteous feeling and put it in the tattered waistband of his torn jeans.

The-Boy-Who-Lived turned back towards the fire indifferently, though feeling slightly satisfied, when he heard a agonized shriek in the distance far behind him. It was Bella and she sounded pissed, like an angry cat being stepped on.

None of it mattered though, as she was too far away and didn't think to throw a spell. Harry flung himself off the floor, scrabbling madly, and landed painfully into the flame, He whispered quietly, so Bella couldn't follow him, the address of where he was going.

"The Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole!"

Harry's vision swirled frantically like a green kaleidoscope; he saw Bella's furious face screaming in frustration as she was too far away to jump in, Rodolphus's limp body on the floor at her feet and then… the Weasley's patterned floral living room sofas.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Me and my friends created our own Cards Against Humanity deck, and I swear it's the funniest thing ever. Going ice skating for Rosalyn's 13th birthday tomorrow- gonna be so bruised... :)**


	7. Wards and Shocks

**My computer just flipped out for a second and I couldn't type properly, so I'm sorry if there's any mistakes in the last chapter.**

 **Here it is, the chapter you've all been waiting for (smiles at empty seats) oh….**

 **Please review or at least favourite, I promise you, I'll finish this. And I'll never take 8 month long breaks like other writers. Okay, enough begging, let's go!**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 7

They were in the middle of an important order meeting in Grimmauld place's dusty kitchen when it happened. Dumbledore was discussing the chances of Harry being in Albania with a serious look on his face when Arthur suddenly shot up in his seat. Everyone stopped talking at once and turned curious and concerned stares onto the Weasley patriarch. He had a shocked expression on his face and his wife placed a hand on his arm worriedly.

"What is it Arthur?" She asked quickly, knowing that look only too well.

"The wards on the Burrow have gone off!" He replied with a strange look. Wards were magical boundaries directly linked to the person who set them and their magic. When they were breached or entered, the person felt a tingle that they would recognise immediately. They could differentiate between somone hostile breaking in and a friend entering- the two feelings felt very different.

Bill looked his father in the eye "Breached or entered?" Bill was a trained curse breaker, working for Gringotts bank. It was part of his job to break into tombs to recover treasures. This meant removing or breaking wards, something he was very good at. He was about to apply for a mastery in Ancient Runes before Voldemort returned, but now there were more important things he had to think of, like taking care of his family.

"They were entered so it's someone that we trust! Albus," Arthur turned to the Headmaster, hope in his eyes "Could- could it be Harry?"

Albus looked hopeful and his eyes twinkled for a split second. He then said to the rest of the group "It could be- though I am not sure how Harry could have escaped. Nevertheless, we shall go and check. How many shall go?"

Everyone at the table, excluding Mundungus who was face down in a pool of his own drool snoring, put their hand up. It seemed they were very eager to see if it was Harry. Molly scowled at Mundungus- she disapproved of him being in the order and around the children. Everyone grabbed their wands and, one-by-one, apparated to just outside of the wards around the Burrow.

They appeared out of thin air on the edge of the nearby forest where the Weasley children sometimes played quidditch. There were very quiet 'cracks' from the people who hadn't learnt to do it silently. It was mainly the aurors who were silent as it was something they were taught in their training. It was early evening, and the orange sun was slowly sinking, casting a golden glow over the dilapidated Weasley abode. They snuck up to the homely wooden front door surreptitiously, and on Mr Weasley's hand signal, Mad-eye opened the door quickly. They slowly wandered in, everyone on guard. Tonks and Molly were at the front of one group, both eager for any sign of Harry. Sirius and Remus were at the front of the other group, and made their way to the lounge door. Sirius put his hand on the handle, his face hopeful yet concerned. He was worried about what they would find.

He nodded at Remus and flung the door open widely, striding in ahead and round the corner with his wand held aloft, half the group behind him, whilst the other explored the kitchen where there was another floo, just in case they got the fireplace wrong-

There was a knife at his throat.

An arm quickly curled round his arms, effectively restraining all movement. He made no sound, and cursed himself, thinking that it was a trap. Then the rest of the group came round the corner, wands at the ready, only they stopped as they caught sight of him and his assailant. They gaped, eyes wide and mouths open, and would be looking very comical if Sirius wasn't being attacked.

"Who are you?" A hoarse voice whispered harshly into his ear. Their voice was low and scratchy, as if they had been screaming non-stop for a few hours. He furrowed his brows, the voice sounded oddly familiar. "Sirius Black" He got out in a strong voice, thanking his auror training to allow him to think in a tense situation. He was just glad he remembered it after all the years in Azkaban. The rest of the group seemed to come back to life, and they lowered their wands slightly. Arthur stepped forwards hesitantly, raising his hands in a 'we come in peace' stance and the tip of the bloody knife seemed to pull away from Sirius's throat slightly.

"Harry?" Arthur's voice broke and he looked at Sirius's attacker with many emotions caught up in his eyes. Sirius felt his jaw drop. Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, the Light's Golden Boy, and most of all his godson, was holding a knife to his throat.

The mangled hand shook slightly and the attacker responded stonily, in a monotone voice "What did you ask when Ron, Fred, George and I, when we flew the Ford Anglia here?" His voice gave nothing away to his emotions, and his body was tense, as if ready to run in an instant.

Arthur put his wand away, inciting everyone else to do the same, and he murmured, looking very sad "I asked you how it went". The knife was removed from his throat slowly and Sirius ducked away, spinning around to face the other way. Now he understood why everyone was still in shock.

The last time he had seen Harry, he was in the hospital wing after the Triwizard tournament. He had looked pretty beat up then, but this was something else. He felt as though he couldn't look at him at first, so he tried to build himself up to it. His eyes started from the still flickering fireplace, focusing on a large puddle of blood that made its way up the sofa, and then came to sit on the armrest. There was Harry, leaning heavily as if he couldn't support his own weight.

He had seen many things in his years of being an auror, and the horrific sights from Azkaban, but nothing like this. The worst he had seen was a huge stab wound in someone's gut, who had then died. And that had made him feel sick.

This was entirely different. Harry was missing his glasses, he noted, his clothes were in tatters, his hair greasy and lank, his skin dangerously pale. And he looked like he had jumped into a combine harvester. He had blood trickling from various deep cuts on his face. His eyes were purple, bloodshot and swollen. His nose looked very off centre and had blood leaking out of it profusely in thick ropes down his front. His lips were split all over, looked much bruised around the edges and there appeared to be lots of dried blood caked around his teeth and tongue. Part of his ear was missing at the top and he had dark shadows around his neck.

And that was just his face.

His legs looked very awkward and he could tell he was having trouble standing. They're broken, Sirius thought absently. His ripped trousers had multiple tears, of which underneath they could see cuts. There were also various initials carved into him. His t-shirt was hanging by his neck and barely clung to his anorexic-like thin frame. There were many slashes and welts on his arms that seemed to trail off towards his back. His wrists had extremely infected burns and cuts in the shape of thick chains and his hands were dripping, clutching a heavily bloodstained knife.

This was so not what he was expecting. Or not what he was hoping to find.

Everyone moved at once, some sending off patronuses rapidly. Harry raised his hands sharply, despite how painful it must have been. They fell silent once more. He opened his mouth to speak and a trickle of blood ran down the side of his mouth, making everyone wince. His voice was rough and his eyes looked glazed. He had obviously relaxed once their identities were confirmed.

"Madame Pomfrey." He rasped out croakily, sinking to the floor slightly. His face scrunched tightly as the intense pain shot through him like fiery bullets.

Remus nodded blankly at once, supporting Harry so he could remain stood, and held out his arm awkwardly for Harry to grasp. Harry raised his arm shakily, obviously with some discomfort, and Emmeline let out a small shriek. She was pointing and everyone followed her gaze, including Harry.

On the inside of his right arm, there was a crudely carved dark mark, blood dribbling profusley down to his elbow. Eyes went wide and everyone stared at Harry. "Barty Crouch Junior thought he was a good artist." He said in his scratchy voice, pain rushing everywhere. They all looked shocked. Harry rolled his blackened eyes, then winced and grabbed a shaky hold of a temporarily stunned Remus.

Remus gestured to a wide-eyed Sirius, who ran to Harry's other side and helped pull him up carefully. Harry groaned weakly, a noise that sent shivers up everyone's spines. Remus held him tightly, unknowingly pressing into deep wounds, and with a loud crack, they disapparated.

They all followed in a dead silence, many unable to take their eyes off the copious large puddles of blood on the floor.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **I'm so tired. Alright, Harry's been found. Yay. More to come soon, but like, seriously, favourite or review to boost my self-esteem. If I see one more green squiggly line under my work, I'm gonna cry. Season 10 of supernatural arrived** **!**


	8. Healing and Blood

**Sup llamas. Thinking of starting another story. Dinner soon, Hunter's chicken- yeuch! Meh.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 8

 _Earlier_

Harry recounted just what had happened in his groggy head. He had landed on the Weasley's thankfully soft carpet, and taken a few moments to gather his breath. He couldn't believe it- he had just escaped Voldemort again! He didn't even care about how severe his injuries were, he was just glad to be out and alive. He had always thought someone would rescue him but after a few weeks went by, his hopes had shattered. He had instead taken it upon himself to escape and had nearly done it a few times. It had scared him just how ruthless he could be, and he didn't want him friends to ever see that side of him. Minor death eaters feared him, one had even nicknamed him a demon. He didn't know why but apparently it was something to do with his eyes. Harry didn't find out and it didn't look like he ever would because he escaped! He was free!

He took a quick survey of the room, his head pounding against his skull furiously. It didn't seem as if anyone was home, or had been for a while. The assorted pillows on the warm orange sofas looked as if they hadn't been sat on for a while and there was a small layer of dust on the wooden shelves by the fireplace. Harry wondered dimly if they had moved. His whole body felt like it had been thoroughly doused in fire and throbbed painfully. A quiet series of cracks nearby jolted the world back into focus, and Harry pulled himself agonizingly onto the sofa, drawing Rodolphus's knife.

Black stars framed his vision and he fought off the tempting darkness that threatened to consume him. He couldn't let his guard down, not after all that had happened to him. A small creak indicated a door being opened, and Harry lunged forwards clumsily, pressing the knife shakingly against the intruder's throat. It took him a few seconds to recognise his captive, but stuck to his decision. This wouldn't have been the first time death eaters had impersonated one of his friends. It had caught him off guard a few times but after he questioned them, he always knew if they were really here to rescue him. They would then give up the pretence and torture him some more.

However, after checking, it seemed as if the cavalry had indeed arrived. About God damn time. He had ignored their horrified and pitiful looks, and grabbed limply onto Remus, ready to Apparate. He needed to be healed desperately- he had lost so much blood and there was no Bella here with a blood replenisher to restock. He had no idea where they were going- Hogwarts infirmary maybe? But when they landed, Harry was in too much pain to notice.

The squeezing had been too much for him to handle and he welcomed the blankness to fall over him as the biting agony ripped through his beaten and bloody body. Sirius struggled frantically as Harry convulsed violently on the ground, and eventually pulled him onto the nearby black velvet sofa. Trickles of blood streamed from his nose and mouth and everyone flinched, scrunching up their eyes in sympathy for the poor boy. He looked like he'd been dragged through hell and back. Well, thought Remus morbidly as he helped Sirius push Harry onto the sofa, Voldemort's dungeon is about as close to hell as you can get. He cursed himself for not apparating to Hogwarts, he had just wanted to get Harry medical care as soon as possible. He hadn't even thought of Hogwarts and there was no way he could take Harry-bloody-Potter into St Mungos. The press would have a field day, and everyone of Harry's friends knew how much he hated attention. They were in Grimmauld place, a place Sirius had never wanted Harry to come. He looked up desperatelyas Madame Pomfrey bustled in quickly through the fire, having been previously sent for just in case the person who entered the wards was Harry.

Madame Pomfrey was a seasoned professional. She had seen many injuries in her lifetime, too many coming from four very specific boys- James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Harry Potter. James was constantly getting hexed by Lily and falling off his broom. Sirius got into one too many duels with Slytherins. Remus, poor lad, had the full moon to deal with every month. It seemed that Harry had upstaged the rest this time though, as she flinched upon seeing Harry's wasted form. Her eyes widened and got slightly watery as she decided to abandon her heart and get to work.

She knelt at the side of the sofa, by Harry's chest. It was barely covered by a mangled dark red t-shirt. She realised with a sick plunge in her stomach that the t-shirt was actually blue. The red must be Harry's...blood. There were many people crowded in the room in silence; Hermione and the entire Weasley clan were there, some crying. Madame Pomfrey considered getting some potions out but to be honest, even she didn't know where to start. She would have to cast a diagnostic spell, a very complex spell she had learned in her internship at St Mungos. She waved her wand in a complicated movement over Harry's decimated figure, and a long roll of parchment appeared to the side, injuries being listed as her wand ran over them. It grew to about a foot. Then it got longer. And longer. Until it reached the floor and Madame Pomfrey's heart was breaking. It read as follows, in loopy handwriting:

 _Fracture in the left parietal region of the skull  
_

 _Broken cheekbones_

 _Cracked mental tubercle in jaw_

 _Broken nose_

 _Black eyes_

 _Heavily split lips with various teeth marks  
_

 _Bruised face in general  
_

 _Missing tip of helix on ear_

 _Strangulation marks around windpipe  
_

 _Missing canine tooth_

 _Deep cuts across face with possible werewolf virus contamination_

 _4 Broken ribs- 2 and 3 on left, 4 and 6 on right  
_

 _Dislocated shoulder_

 _Mild amount of water in lungs from inhalation  
_

 _Fractured ulna in right arm_

 _Penetration points straight through hands with possible infections  
_

 _Internal bleeding due to liver trauma from multiple damaging impacts  
_

 _Partially punctured lung from broken rib number 2 on left side  
_

 _Multiple carvings across body_

 _Many burst blood vessels from heavy stress and trauma_

 _Burns and heavy cuts from possible cursed restraints (see the Flagrante curse)  
_

 _Missing middle fingernail on left hand  
_

 _Stab wounds in torso around abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava  
_

 _Lash marks over back, buttocks, thighs and shoulders possibly from a strap or whip  
_

 _Deep bite mark on the left pectoral region_

 _Infected scratches on upper thighs from human nails  
_

 _Multiple breaks in both legs-_ _femur, tibia, and fibula in left. Femur and fibula in right._

 _Shattered patellas in both kneecaps that suggest being hit with a blunt object_

 _Sprained ankle_

 _Possible head trauma from many concussions snd wounds  
_

 _Slashes and bruises covering most of the body_

 _Exhaustion and fatigue  
_

 _Noted that the patient has been healed many times over the last 2 months, these are only the current afflictions._

Madame Pomfrey stared speechlessly at the inky words before her. Harry had somehow escaped with all of those injuries… the boy would've been in sheer agony the entire time. She was amazed he was still alive but then read the last note. He had been healed repeatedly... would that mean that he was previously worse than this? She shuddered to think about it. She heard gasps behind her as they read the parchment. Finally deciding what to work on first, Madame Pomfrey raised her wand shakily to fix Harry's many broken bones, and he subconsciously flinched in unconsciousness. She felt guilty, though she didn't know why- the boy would probably fear wands for quite a while. He would almost certainly have PTSD. Although, she reflected, he probably already had it after the events in June with the tournament. Not for the first time, she marvelled at the young man's bravery and strength.

She mended his legs with many audible snaps as she flicked her wand, along with his knees and ribs. Everyone flinched at the sound and looked in horror at Harry. They couldn't believe it either. Harry groaned feebly and tilted his head back jerkily as she removed the water and puncture wounds from his lungs. She waved softly over his arm and head, fixing the fractures. She sighed sadly and shook her head, turning towards Sirius.

"I can fix the rest of him but I'll need for him to be awake. He will be in a lot of pain, but it's better this way. He'll be able to tell me what hurts."

Sirius nodded and hesitantly whispered "Rennervate!"

Harry moaned and his purple swollen eyes fluttered open. He winced at the pain and sudden light but otherwise ignored it. He fingered the soft velvet sofa, revelling in the luxury for a second. Pain pounded through his body still but there were key aspects missing. He suspected he had already been healed some and silently thanked whoever had healed him. Pushing his still bloody arms to the side, he tried to sit up, only to have Sirius raise his hands slightly and push him gently back down by the shoulders.

"You'll hurt yourself like that Harry, please just let Madame Pomfrey heal you."

Harry looked up at Sirius, feeling mildly suprised, and deflated slightly. He turned his dull washed-out green eyes on Madame Pomfrey. She flinched at the haunted look behind them, and went back to his weak and bloody body. She fixed the red marks on his face that had been caused from the burst blood vessels. She dreaded to think how many times he had been under the Cruciatus for those to occur. She had only ever seen that happen on two people, and they were in St Mungo's psychiatric ward. The Longbottoms.

"Harry, I will need to vanish your shirt to get a better look at your injuries, is that okay?" the nurse said cautiously. Harry twitched then nodded his confirmation awkwardly. "Evanesco" she muttered, and then let out a muffled gasp along with everyone in the room. Harry's chest was covered in initials and words carved in. B.L, L.V, B.C.J, and so many more. The word 'mudblood' was engraved especially deep on his lower stomach. Madame Pomfrey pulled out a potion- a blood replenisher- and offered it to Harry who drank it hesitantly after sniffing to confirm that it wasn't poison. He would love to trust her blindly like the old Harry, but whatever innocence and naïvety he had before was long gone. He wouldn't put it past a spy to spike his potions or food.

His cuts began to heal, vanishing slowly, leaving behind red and white scars. All except the silvery ones on his face. She gave them a quizzical look. "Harry, where did those cuts come from?" Harry thought for a second before the bloody memory flashed before his mind. "Fenrir Greyback" Harry spilled out. Remus inhaled sharply and dropped to his knees before Harry, tracing the lines on his face shakily. "Was he- was he a werewolf at the time?" he garbled desperately. Harry shook his head, much to the relief of everyone in the room. Remus breathed out a sigh of relief- being a werewolf would definitely not help Harry right now.

"They'll have to heal by themselves then" Madame Pomfrey decided curtly, whilst trying to figure out what to deal with next. "Please show me your back, Harry; I know you have some injuries there" Harry looked worried for a second and seemed reluctant to show them. He knew what it looked like- or what it felt like at least, and he didn't want their sympathy. Besides, he was ashamed of his back- it was a sign of his weakness, in his opinion. Swallowing his pride, he carefully turned over, hissing harshly at the pain that ripped through his torso.

Molly had tears dripping down her nose profusely at this point. Harry was like a son to her, and seeing him this hurt nearly destroyed her. He was always so lovely and considerate- a kind and gentle soul with an aura that makes him seem too old for his body. He was so tough though- as far as she knew, no-one had ever seen him cry. She knew he had come close at the end of the third task. She had felt his body start to shake but he had fought the tears away. He was so brave. But now if he ever had a reason to cry, it would be because of this. His back was a torn mess- a thick lattice of bloody grooves that looked so so painful and so so deep. It was as if he had been whipped violently for a long time- which she realised he probably had. Molly felt sick and horrified and wanted to curse every last death eater. She wished above anything for his pain to disappear. By the sad look on Arthur's face, he was thinking along the same lines.

No-one had it as bad as Sirius and Remus though. They were both staring wide-eyed at Harry, as Poppy tried to magically sew up his absolutely slashed back, with blank looks. Both of them were thinking the same thing-'James and Lily, we've failed you…'

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **I got my sister into Supernatural, and we were on 1x16 when she turned to me and said "y'know I think im getting into this!" I laughed so hard- she isn't into it until she's cried for days…**

 **I might have dislocated my knee. I fell over during ice skating and screamed so loudly. It's so swollen and black and purpley-red. I also cursed at the ice to 'leave me alone' in Russian. People were laughing.**


	9. Stories and Aunts

**Bought the new Shapeshifter book (by Ali Sparkes) - there will probably be a sequel, there's no way she can leave it like that.**

 **My muse is really lazy as of right now, so things may be a li'l slow. I've officially mastered Alphabet Aerobics.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 9

Madame Pomfrey finished her incantation with a complicated flourish, and Harry's swollen nose righted itself with an audible snap. He was looking much better, but not entirely healed- two months of heavy torture didn't disappear just like _that._ Magic only went so far. His bruises had turned to a faded yellowy-purple, his cuts mere red lines or white scars. His burns just looked like tanned sections of skin. The broken bones would heal a little slower so he would be limping for a while. Unfortunately, the places where his cuffs had been could not be healed- there was dark magic on the cuffs that would only allow the cuts/burns to heal by themselves. They would almost definitely scar heavily.

Harry stared blankly at his body in shock- he couldn't remember ever feeling this uninjured in a while. Once Madame Pomfrey had gone over his potions schedule, gave him a stern yet caring look and made a list of foods he should eat to try and get his body back to normal (although she said it probably wouldn't hurt to put on some extra weight- he always was on the small side), she had given the go-ahead for people to talk to him.

Ron, Hermione and Sirius all barrelled into the sofa at once, their words garbling into one unintelligible slur.

"Are you okay now, Pup?"

"Harry we were so worried, what happened?"

"Bloody hell, mate, you look like crap."

Hermione's arms wrapped themselves around him, both hesitantly and eagerly. Harry flinched slightly, causing a few people to send him pitiful looks, then hugged back as best he could, but his arms still hurt pretty badly. It was around a 3/10, Harry thought. Nothing to be bothered about.

He tried to respond but a wave of pain shot through him. His throat was still raw and sore from all the screaming. He tensed, his eyelids twitching. Hermione withdrew her arms as if she had been burned and sent him a tear-filled worried look. Madame Pomfrey instinctively passed him a Pain Reliever Potion.

Gripping the small vial tight in his hand, Harry poured the potion down his throat with a look of disgust on his face at the rotten-egg-type taste. He set the vial down on a green table by the end of the couch next to him, and closed his eyes as his stomach churned uncomfortably. Even though Harry was uncomfortably hungry, the thought of food almost sent him fleeing to the toilet (not that he could move much anyway). He hardly ate while he was in his cell, mostly because he hardly got food- just some tasteless slop that sometimes had bits of glass inside, but because he was usually unconscious most of the time or he was in too much pain to notice his hunger. Now he wished he ate more, even though it had hurt his throat. He hated the nauseous feeling inside his stomach. He had got used to it at the Dursleys but at least they fed him more- these starvation pangs were much worse.

The effect of the potion was almost immediate. A sort of cool, calm, white wave rolled through him softly. Harry's stiff and sore muscles seemed to relax, and the pain that was in them dulled down until they were barely throbbing. He felt as though he had run ten miles non-stop then just collapsed. Finally feeling some kind of relief than what he had before, Harry let his body relax and sank into the couch, letting his head fall onto the back of the comfy armrest heavily.

Sirius and Remus seemed saddened by his reaction to the potion, seeing how much Harry seemed to relax, even though there was still pain coursing through him. His endurance to pain was higher than they had thought. They had been in shock about how he fought in June. He had had the Cruciatus placed upon him in the Graveyard, something that could normally knock a person down for quite a few minutes. Harry had kept on fighting throughout the pain, and they were in awe of that, but it was nothing like this.

Molly watched him, caught between relief and pity as she saw him finally relax. She had noticed when they first arrived back that even in his barely-conscious form his body was tense and alert. It was as if he was ready to bolt at any time, something he had probably had drilled into him over the last few months. Dumbledore felt that he was to blame for everything that happened to Harry, he should have made sure he got to his relative's house safely. He suddenly felt very old and useless. McGonagall, as if sensing his thoughts, placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting way. He nodded understandingly and turned back to face Harry sadly, a surely unpopular question, yet one that was desperately necessary, on his tongue.

"Harry," The wizened Headmaster began, trying to ignore the flinch from Harry at the sudden noise. "Please, we need to know what has happened and where you were."

"Albus!" Sirius hissed angrily like an overprotective tiger, as he noticed Harry pale slightly. Dumbledore shook his head.

"You know as well as I do that it'll help him, Sirius. It did last year." Dumbledore said, sitting down on the armchair in front of Harry.

"That was different," Harry whispered, his voice sounding strained. "I was only in that damn graveyard for around an hour. Two Cruciatus's and a few cuts. Nothing". Many people flinched at his definition of 'nothing' as Harry carried on, his voice getting more scratchy by the second.

"This time, I was there for nearly two months. Two months! And as for what happened…" his voice broke, and the Headmaster bowed his head. "I think you can probably guess what happened." Harry said, feebly gesturing to his still emaciated body. Albus felt his heart break at the nonchalant tone Harry had affected. Remus cut in, seeing sense in what Albus was saying- Harry unfortunately had information they all very much needed and it really would help him recover. Harry always held his emotions and feeling in until he exploded.

"Harry, please. It may help us find any other prisoners- like your Aunt!" Dumbledore's head shot up as he suddenly remembered that Harry's Aunt had gone missing on that fateful day as well. Her husband and son had been brutally killed, but she was nowhere to be found. Other people in the room nodded as they remembered too, some shuffling slightly, ashamed that they had forgotten. Something flashed in Harry's eyes and his face closed off. "No. we won't find her. She's dead."

A stony silence followed his words, and a tear cut a thin line down Albus's face as he remembered the little muggle girl eager to go to Hogwarts, who had written him a letter, pleading him to let her go so she could be with her sister. Molly whispered, a wobble in her voice "A-are you s-sure?" She hated the idea of Harry watching his last blood relative die, and hoped he was mistaken. Harry nodded. How could he forget that scene? His Aunt's deformed body had been dragged in one night. He had stared in shock- he hadn't even known she was there. Bella had asked him for information and it was with a heavy heart that Harry had declined shakily. Bella had stared at him curiously then slit his Aunt's throat. He had watched the life and blood drain out of her, her wide eyes fixated accusingly on Harry. They had left the body with him all night before retrieving her with nasty smiles on their faces.

"Yes, she was murdered by Bella because I wasn't giving them any information. I didn't even know she was there. I presume that Vernon and Dudley are dead then, as they didn't make a guest appearance?" Harry said flatly. Most of the Order stared at Harry in shock at his flippancy, and his lack of care. Some people knew of the tension between Harry and his only living relatives, but didn't think it was this bad. However, Ron, who understood Harry's unloving relationship with his Aunt's family entirely, nodded. "They were killed in the car accident."

Harry looked thoughtful for a second. A strangle look passed over his scarred features before he then turned his attention back to Dumbledore. "I only saw one other prisoner, but she escaped. She flooed out. Couldn't have been more that 10 years old. But you say there could be others?"

"How did she escape? Who was she?" Sirus cut in before anyone could say anything. Harry shrugged slightly.

"I think her name was Marianne. She was brought in after a few weeks, she was getting hit about a bit so I yelled at the death eater, he started in on me, and she ran out the open door and flooed somewhere. Uh...brown hair and brown eyes." He reeled off. Hermione snorted softly at his selflessness, tears still falling down her cheeks. Not even two months of solid torture could erase Harry's 'saving-people-thing'. "But you think there are others?" Harry repeated.

Dumbledore nodded. "You were held in one location- there are lots more hideouts that Voldemort has. These are possibly full of prisoners. We need as much information as possible so we can rescue them or get them help."

"What do you want to know?" Harry responded calmly, finally understanding.

"Everything, just start from the beginning." Dumbledore asked with a tremble in his voice. He actually wasn't sure if he wanted to know _everything._

Harry closed his eyes for a minute, gritting his teeth while horror filled images ran crazily inside his head like a bloody Muggle movie, refusing to leave his mind. Opening his eyes, he saw everyone was waiting with patience for him to start. Many looked very worried about what they would hear. He fixed his eyes on one of his hand scars. As he began talking, he successfully kept his voice steady for a while. He told them of how the Dementors had attacked the car, the fact he had been kept in Malfoy Manor (he had heard it from Jugson), the general gist of what happened in all of his _sessions_ with the Death Eaters, the fact he had killed five death eaters- but he left out the worse methods he had used.

He gave them the names they needed to cross off the 'most wanted list'. Jugson, Rowle, Rodolphus, Selwyn and Gibbon. They had all looked shocked when they learned he had killed a Lestrange. He told them of how he held his peace, refusing to say anything, how his Aunt's corpse had been dragged in and left there to rot. He finished by telling them how he had escaped. His hands shook as he finished telling his horrific tale and he looked up hesitantly, taking in everyone's reactions.

Dumbledore was rubbing at his wrinkled eyes, his mind trying to process everything that Harry had told him, and his face barely restrained at showing the anger he felt at the situation. Remus sat at the other end of the couch by Harry's feet, letting his head fall into his hands as tears fell off his nose and onto his trousers. Sirius was still knelt on the ground by Harry, and had turned his head from anyone, so they could not see his reaction. He was shaking, silently sobbing as memories of death eaters attacking a muggle town when he was an auror popped up. They had done barely anything to those muggles, he thought now, compared to what they had done to Harry.

Hermione clutched Ron's arm, and was sobbing soundlessly, her body trembling. Her mind wanted to believe that what had happened didn't, but the evidence was right in front of her, and she knew she couldn't deny it. No matter how much she wanted to. Arthur and Ron both had the same reaction, they had open mouths, and staring at the ground with disbelief written on their faces, scared at what Harry was put through, what he had experienced. They looked uncannily similar. Molly grasped Arthur's hand tightly in her own as tears ran rapidly down her face, her other hand trying to wipe them away fast. She clutched at her husband and he numbly hugged her close.

The rest of the Weasley family was in shock. Ginny staggered forwards, collapsing next to Harry on the sofa and placed a hand softly on top of Harry's. He tensed slightly. Her chocolate brown eyes were brimming with tears, and Harry rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, trying to comfort her. She snorted at the irony, making Harry smile weakly at her. She returned his smile shakily and leaned her head on his shoulder as she cried, unable to hold it back anymore. He stroked her back soothingly, his pulse racing at the sudden contact, and she soon relaxed.

Madam Pomfrey looked horrified, and was trying to calm down her frantic heart as she searched through her bag once again. She pulled out quite a few more potions and added them to the ever-growing pile. The she walked with a tremble in her step and handed Sirius a Dreamless Sleep Potion. "Are you comfortable there or do you want to be moved upstairs?" she addressed Harry, making it clear he was going to rest one way or another.

Harry glanced briefly at Ginny who was still buried in his shoulder and told Madame Pomfrey he would remain downstairs. Sirius approached him and pulled the cap off with a soft pop. Harry reached forwards to take it, and drank it quickly. Sirius pulled a thick green blanket off another sofa, and threw it over Harry. "Goodnight pup." he said softly, his face full of care and concern. He looked very much like a parent.

Then the full effects of the sleeping potion hit Harry. Harry's head rolled to the side, resting on the top of a now snoozing Ginny's head. Remus ran a hand through his matted bloody hair as Sirius tucked in the blanket around him. Harry faintly smiled at their acts, whispering a hoarse thank you that made Molly beam. Harry was always so kind- he didn't deserve this. Harry finally gave in to the grey fog that was swirling around inside his head and closed his eyes, falling into a peaceful, warm sleep for the first time in a long time.


	10. Knives and Potions

**We just watched some old family videos, and I swear I was the cutest child. Blonde, smart and very chatty- what happened? I wanna temporarily dye my hair blonde just to see if I'll look like 3 year old me…**

 **My bra straps are digging in.**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 10- **ooh!**

Harry heard faintly muffled voices around him as he slowly fought his way to consciousness. His adrenaline raced and he tensed up before he realised he wasn't chained to a wall. His bloodshot eyes blearily opened, then, as his thoughts caught up with him, his head shot bolt upright, looking around frantically. Molly and Remus were at the foot of the sofa. They had been smiling conspiratorially for some reason, but now looked vaguely startled. It took Harry a minute to control his breathing, and he shook his head.

"You okay cub?" Remus asked, his face creased with concern. Harry nodded slowly.

"Just forgot where I was for a second" Sadness flashed on Remus's face before fading into a mischievous smile. Harry cocked his head to the side and followed his gaze. Ginny was curled up into him, sleeping softly, and Harry had thrown an arm round her subconsciously in his sleep. Her beautiful red-gold hair was fanned about her head and her pink lips were slightly parted. She shifted in her sleep, burrowing into Harry's chest. Harry flinched imperceptibly at the contact, disliking the closeness, yet a blush randomly appeared on his cheeks. Remus grinned at Molly and Harry caught it, narrowing his eyes. Did they know something he didn't?

He shook her shoulder quickly but gently, and her large brown eyes fluttered open. She smiled sleepily at Harry before pressing her head back against him. Then her eyes widened. She scrambled around, falling off the sofa they had snuggled up on together. Remus laughed and Harry, who was grinning at her, shakily held out a still blood covered hand to help her up. This made Remus laugh even harder at Harry's oblivious look. Giiny flashed him a guilty smirk then dashed upstairs, bright red. Molly followed her, shaking her head as if she knew a secret Harry didn't, skirting round Sirius as he entered the room.

"What's going on?" Sirius said amusedly, taking in the knowing look of his oldest friend and his red-faced godson. He nudged the werewolf, who was snickering as Harry remained confused. Remus turned to him and whispered a few words. A smile crept over Sirius's face and Harry, who could take it no longer, sat up fully, wincing painfully, and asked them "What?"

They both sniggered at Harry's confused face. Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine, don't tell me. I'll go get changed while you act like first-years." He pushed the blanket away slowly and swung his legs off of the sofa. He flinched and groaned through clenched teeth as the pain he had been ignoring made itself known. All the humour disappeared in an instant. Remus and Sirius rushed over and eased Harry back into a sitting position. They had forgotten that Harry would still be in horrible pain while he healed, and that he still had quite a few injuries left.

His was covered in quite a few bruises that were on their way to being healed, his wrists were still raw and bloody from the cursed manacles and his legs had shooting pains from where they had been broken severely. His back was also quite tender from the heavy lashing it had received over the last few months. Before or maybe during Harry's sleep, someone had used a switching spell to exchange Harry's blood soaked rags with some soft blue pyjamas. The rags were on the side of the table, looking very dark brown, along with Rodolphus's bloody knife.

"Where did these come from?" Harry asked Remus, trying to ignore the throbbing pain swirling through his body. He surreptitiously swiped the knife and put it in his back pocket. Despite knowing he was safe, Harry couldn't erase 2 months of jumpiness.

"We retrieved your trunk from the car accident, it was lucky that they didn't take it- it had all your stuff in it. These pyjamas had to be shrunk as they were way too big. We also have your wand, if you were worried." Harry breathed a sigh of relief- he had been wondering about the fate of his wand, whether the death eaters had taken it or not. "What about Hedwig?" Harry asked, feeling worried. He had released her on the 9 3/4 train platform and told her to go to number 4.

"We found Hedwig circling the roof at your relatives' house. Ginny has been taking care of her." Sirus replied, as those infuriating smirks reappeared. Harry rolled his eyes; he had no time for their mysterious antics.

"Where's all my stuff, then?"

"I'll go get it." Remus said, disappearing upstairs. Sirius helped Harry to his feet, where he swayed painfully for a second before regaining his balance. Sirius put a supporting arm under Harry's shoulders and together they performed a strange three-legged race to the kitchen, Harry clenching his teeth. Sirius sent him sympathetic looks every now and then. Most of the Order and all the Weasleys were there, having lunch. Ginny blushed heavily but Harry didn't notice. He sat down at the table gingerly and Mrs Weasley immediately swooped down on him.

"Harry dear, do you think you can manage any food? Some toast, some eggs or just some porridge?"

"Uh, some porridge would be great Mrs Weasley, thanks" Harry's stomach rolled at the thought of food, it had shrunk so much. He had been too skinny before but he was definitely in the anorexic category now. He had seen Mrs. Weasley's eyes fill with tears when she saw his scarily protruding ribcage when he was being healed. She had nearly always been there to fatten him up over the holidays, and it seemed this one would be no different.

She placed a steaming bowl of lightly sugared porridge on the table before him, and Harry weakly smiled at her. "Thanks!" She beamed at him and placed a plate of food that was considerably bigger in front of a very tired looking Ron. He grunted and dived in eagerly. Hermione tutted and poked Ron in his shoulder. He looked up, and then it obviously dawned on his face. "'Fanks m'm" he mumbled out, his ears red. Everyone around the table laughed warmly, and Harry realised that this was probably the happiest it had been since his kidnapping.

It was true- Bill and Charlie were discussing dragons and the breeds they use to guard treasure, Percy was back to boring everyone on Ministry topics, Fred and George were plotting at the end of the table with Sirius and Mr Weasley was having a light discussion with the rest of the Order members. Hermione, Ron and Ginny had rushed over to sit by him.

Hermione dived in first. "Harry, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Hermione, honestly. I'm all better now"

She scanned him and nodded. "Yes you do look much better, but you're still far too thin. You need to eat." She pushed the bowl of porridge Harry had been stirring absently forwards and glared at him. It didn't exactly have the desired affect as worry was still lurking in her eyes. Harry suddenly realised that she had seen him when he was…injured… and that it had probably scared her. She had been very upset when he had come back from the Triwizard Tournament slightly bloody and shaking- he could hardly imagine what she had felt like seeing him like that last night. His hand uncontrollably shaking slightly, he ate a small spoonful quickly and she relaxed. His stomach churned and he masked it carefully. Ron grinned at him.

Hermione shot to her feet suddenly and everyone stared at her, startled and worried. "I haven't done any homework!" she exclaimed and dashed upstairs. They all looked at each other for a moment, then warm hearty laughter filled the room happily. Harry chuckled but inside felt slightly guilty. She had been too worried about him to do what she enjoyed.

After around 10 minutes of everyone lightly bantering around, Dumbledore flooed in from the fireplace behind Harry. Harry had been shakily working his way through his porridge, feeling very sick, when he heard a whoosh and footsteps behind him. Instincts that had been honed after 2 months of fighting to survive, roared to life, and Harry jumped off the chair, turning around with the knife pointed straight at his headmaster's throat. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, blocking out all pain like they had on his escape attempts.

Mrs Weasley gasped and Sirius shot to his feet. Harry cursed silently and withdrew the knife. "Sorry." He muttered, retaking his seat tremblingly. Mad-eye Moody gave him a calculating glance. Dumbledore blinked his suprised blue eyes and looked very sad. "It is understandable my boy, not your fault. However I must congratulate you on your reflexes, they were very quick." Harry nodded slightly and ducked his head, returning to his breakfast as the pain returned, making him bite his lip. He carefully stowed the knife in his jacket pocket, avoiding everyone's startled and pity-filled eyes.

"Harry you really shouldn't carry a knife…" Molly began. Sirius shook his head at her frantically, a warning glance on his face. There seemed to be some unspoken communication and she reluctantly changed her direction swiftly. "… without a proper holster, it could be dangerous. I think there are some in the basement. We can go see after lunch, okay?"

Harry nodded gratefully as the rest of the Weasley children stared at their mother in shock. "Thanks Mrs Weasley" Harry muttered. Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a minute, while normal conversation started back up, though slightly quieter than before. Harry quickly finished off his porridge, holding back a heave, then unsteadily limped to the sink where he began to wash up his bowl. Mrs Weasley steered him away hastily and together, with Sirius supporting him, they walked to the basement.

Loud talking started up once they had left the kitchen, and Harry caught some of it. "…insecure…knife means safety… just leave it alone… watch out" Harry tuned it out as they started going down some old rickety wooden stairs. He knew that he was out of order but he actually didn't care. He wasn't going to be caught unarmed again just because some people were worried. Sirius went first, wand out, then Harry with Molly following up the back.

The basement was very dark, with cobwebs in every corner. There were many dusty portraits on the floor, with lots of furniture surrounding. "Lumos!" Sirus and Molly whispered in unison. Many things scattered at the light and the whole place had a distinctly uneasy feel. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up as the darkness pushed memories to the surface. This was all very similar. They turned a battered corner and an armoury of some sorts came into focus. Sirius fumbled on the wall for a second, then a light turned on, brightening up the area. Harry relaxed slightly now that he could see. There were many dusty bookshelves with multiple wands, knives, swords, everything, on. On one particular shelf, 3rd down, there were holsters. Sirus scanned them for a minute with his wand before shrugging, and grabbed one off. He had just checked if they were cursed.

The one he had chosen for Harry was made of a tough thick black material. "Dragon hide," Sirius revealed to him "Tougher than leather and instinctively fire resistant. I think this one is a Hebridean Black. Vicious things, though not as bad as that Hungarian Horntail you had" He handed it over to Harry who pulled out his knife.

It was a truly stunning knife. It had a pure black handle carved into vine shapes that twisted round the base. The silver blade was deadly, hooked sharply at the end. It had blood covering most of the blade though, somewhat ruining the beauty. "You really ought to clean off that blood Harry." Sirus said, pulling a face at the knife. "Where did you get it from anyway?"

"It was Rodolphus Lestrange's," Harry said flatly. "And the blood is mine." Sirius's eyes darkened slightly and all he said was

"Was?"

"I stole it off him after I killed him."

Sirius thought for a second, feeling slightly guilty at the reminder of what Harry had been through, before responding "Good. That guy deserves everything he gave out. He was in the cell opposite me in Azkaban, and the things he would talk about…" Sirius shook his head free of the memories. He grabbed another holster off the shelf and grabbed a knife as well. It was smaller but still had a fatally sharp golden-coloured blade, with a brown Peruvian Vipertooth dragon hide handle.

"I think I'll follow your lead, Pup. Molly?"

Mrs. Weasley had been behind them the entire time, scowling disapprovingly. However when Harry turned to face her, her frown melted quickly.

"I really don't want a knife Sirius, thank you very much. And can I just say I really don't approve of either of you with weapons. But," she started as Harry's face fell "I can see you need a little reassurance so… please don't mess with them." She tried to finish on a positive note, smiling for Harry's benefit. He nodded shyly at her. As they left, Sirius taking the lead again, Harry held back a little.

"Thank you for understanding Mrs. Weasley. I…need this. I can't explain..."

"…and you don't need to. I get it," Her voice turned playfully stern "but I don't want you stabbing anyone in this house. Are we clear? "

Harry cheekily grinned at her and nodded again. He turned round and precariously walked up the stairs.

Harry yawned as he fought the urge to close his eyes. He, Hermione, Ron and Remus had been talking about OWL's and the next school term for just under 2 hours, and Harry tried his hardest to stay awake. He heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and snapped his eyes to the doorway. Sirius sat down in a silvery-green armchair beside them.

"What are you all on about?" He said.

"Padfoot, finally you're here, what electives did you take? I kept getting confused and couldn't remember." Remus said.

"I took Care Of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies."

Ron tilted his head and screwed up his face. "Muggle Studies?"

Sirius smirked. "My family was so 'pure-blood-this' and 'pure-blood-that', that I decided to learn as much about Muggles as possible to annoy them. The looks on their faces when I got an Outstanding…beautiful" Sirus gazed dreamily at the ceiling and everyone chuckled. "Why, what are you all taking?"

"Care of magical creatures, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies" Hermione said eagerly.

"Divination and Care of magical creatures" Ron grumbled.

"Same as Ron" Said Harry. Sirius pulled a face.

"Divination? Really? I remember James took Divination. He said it was a huge waste of time. The only thing he predicted was marrying Lily…" He trailed off and he and Remus exchanged shocked looks. "Bloody hell, maybe he was a seer!"

Everyone laughed again. Harry nodded seriously after. "I actually was thinking of changing electives." Ron sent him a betrayed look. "Oh come on Ron, we make everything up anyway, and besides, Arithmancy looks interesting. Creating spells using numbers and all that." Ron screwed up his face then shrugged.

Hermione stared at him eagerly and was about to launch into a massive explanation when Sirius patted Harry gently on the shoulder. "I think it's time you went to bed, pup. You were yawning so widely when I walked in I thought you were going to inhale Moony" Harry feebly got to his feet and they walked out together, leaving the other 3 laughing behind them.

They reached his and Ron's bedroom and Harry sat heavily on his guest bed that had been set up for him before he had been taken, his face red. He was panting. The walk upstairs was harder when you were in a lot of pain. Sirius sat by him and for a while they talked, about Arithmancy, about the knives and about how Harry was feeling.

"I'm fine!" Harry said and Sirius gave him a 'look'. Harry rolled his still bruised eyes then accidently let loose a yawn he had been trying to ignore. Sirius switched his clothes for pyjamas with a quick switching spell at once then gently helped him get into bed.

"Uh-Sirius-could you-can you get me a dreamless sleep potion please?" Harry called out as Sirius turned to leave. Sirius raised an eyebrow. Harry flushed and expanded on his request. Dreamless sleep was heavily addictive and many people used it on a regular basis.

"It's just sometimes I talk in my sleep and I don't want to wake up Ron."

Comprehension dawned on Sirius's face. His voice was low and comforting "Nightmares?"

Harry looked at his scarred hands and nodded reluctantly.

That was all Harry could worry about at the moment: nightmares. They were already bad, his parent's, the Basilisk, the Triwizard Tournament and Cedric in most of them, but now Voldemort and his death eaters had added something else for him to scream about at night. He knew they would get worse, how couldn't they after everything he was put through? The only problem was that, at school, he could use magic and put a silencing charm around himself. Now it was different, but he didn't want anyone to know he couldn't even sleep without Voldemort getting to him. He didn't want people to know he was weak.

Sirius stared at Harry's eyes for a while then pulled out a red vial from his pocket. "Pup," he began slowly "you know you can tell us -me- anything right? You don't have to do everything on your own." Harry looked up and saw nothing but caring in Sirius's face.

"I know, I just… don't want to deal with it yet. I just want a few nights of peace." He said truthfully.

Sirius placed the vial down on the bedside table and the corners of his mouth twitched up into a comforting smile. Then it molded into a cocky grin. Harry narrowed his eyes as he drank the foul-tasting potion.

"What?"

"Maybe I could get Ginny to come in here, you slept pretty peacefully last time-"he quickly ducked a pillow Harry weakly threw at him, grinning. The last thing Harry heard was Sirius's dog-like laugh as he slipped deeply into the embrace of sleep.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Painting my nails black. Why can't we wear nail varnish to school? It's unfair. Anyway, chapter 11 coming soon. We're in double digits people!**


	11. Appearances and Prophecies

**Would it kill you to review? No.**

 **Will I kill you if you don't review? Possibly**

 **Guess you know what to do now then.**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 11

Sirius hurried down the stairs and quickly entered the kitchen, where an Order meeting was about to start. He fell into the empty seat next to Tonks, who had Remus on the other side. He had been watching Harry sleep for a few hours, just to make sure he was there to fight off any nightmares that could break through. Luckily, Harry had slept peacefully. He would probably wake from his afternoon nap soon though, so Sirius wanted to get this meeting over with quickly.

"Wotcher Sirius," Tonks said, her hair fading from apple-green to a happy blue.

"Hello Tonks." He replied, watching the remaining Order Member's sit down. She gave him a once-over then said "you do seem a lot happier. And a lot more sober." She raised her eyebrows at him. "You know you can't do that in front of Harry now- get absolutely hammered, right?"

Sirius had the decency to look ashamed. "I was just worried- no-one knew where he was or what state he was in. I'm glad we have him back now, even if he wasn't in the best of shapes when he arrived."

"I know both of you and Dumbledore were frantically looking for him," She said with a sideways' glance at Remus, "Dumbledore had all Auror members searching anywhere they could think of. Speaking of Aurors, Moody couldn't help but notice Harry's reflexes, Remus said he was good at DADA, he _is_ the supposed saviour-of-the-world… any chance of him joining the Aurors?"

Sirius shrugged and made a mental note to ask Harry about his plans for the future. It was times like these he wished he could just explode Wormtail. He had missed so much of Harry's childhood, at times he felt like he didn't know that much about him. But they were getting better. They had a good relationship at the moment.

Before Tonks could continue on about recruitment, Dumbledore cleared his throat, and all eyes were on him. Sirius could tell this was a serious meeting because only the most trusted Order Member's were there.

"Good afternoon, everyone. As you all know, we have some of our members guarding a Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, one that has to do with Harry and Voldemort," Dumbledore spoke, stopping to let everyone take in what he was saying. Sirius and Remus looked sharply at each other, was he about to tell everyone the full contents of the Prophecy? They had only heard the first few lines, and it made them nervous for Harry's future. They were anxious about what the rest of it said.

"After recent event's, I believe that Harry and all of you should know what exactly this Prophecy says, so that we all know what we are fighting against, and what for. I know some of you have had doubts about our chances in this war, but this should make things a lot clearer. This information is what Harry was tortured for, despite not knowing, so if you don't want to know, you can leave at any time."

"Albus," Remus started, looking at his former headmaster dead in the eye "Do you honestly think we should tell Harry everything that the Prophesy says? He doesn't need that kind of pressure on his shoulders and I don't even know the other half. What if it says something Harry doesn't like?"

Sirius glanced at his friend. He disagreed. "I think Harry should be told- you know how much he hates to be kept in the dark. He is a natural Occlumens as well, so he could protect the secret."

They had recently found out about Harry's outstanding Occlumency skills. Sirius had asked if Voldemort had used the spell 'legilimens' on him and Harry had said yes. They had asked what had happened and Harry had told them that nothing had happened. Dumbledore had tested his shields and said they were impenetrable. No-one knew where they had come from except Harry.

When he was at the Dursleys, he had mastered keeping his feelings under control. His face was impassive all the time and it had unnerved his relatives slightly. He had let it go since going to Hogwarts but after the Third Task they had been thrown up to mask his pain and loss. He hadn't let them down since, and now had them up subconsciously all the time.

"Yes, I agree with Sirius" Dumbledore answered. "I believe he should know why everything has happened to him, why exactly Voldemort has hunted him down mercilessly since he was a baby, and why Voldemort wants him so desperately now."

Everyone at the table was taking in what Dumbledore told them, realizing how dangerous the information they were going to be given was to have. Quite a few members were unwilling to know that kind of information and left. Eventually it was just Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, Minerva, Tonks, Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Flitwick, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie and Percy.

Sirius was most worried at how Harry would react to it, how he would feel with what rested on his shoulders. He knew Harry could deal with it though, and after everything he had gone through, he deserved to know. Looking over, he saw Remus looked the same way he felt. Their faces were mirrored on Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys' faces, and it touched them to know how many people cared for Harry.

*******

Harry rolled out of bed carefully and slowly meandered down the hallway to the bathroom. He went to the toilet then stared at himself in the mirror. He walked over to the sink and grasped the sides of it, supporting himself. His glasses were still broken, it was amazing they hadn't fallen off, but Remus mentioned finding him a better pair with the same frame. Any cuts were red or white lines that stood out against his pale skin, his bruises were still a sickening blue-black color, and his scar looked irritated as ever. The werewolf scars looked silvery in the dim bathroom light.

There were bags under his dull green eyes, and his hair was messier than ever, still caked with blood and dirt. Harry felt disgusted with himself as his eyes continued to roam over his injuries all over his body; Harry turned the sink on and cupped some water in his hands, pouring it onto his face in attempt to clean any blood and dirt off of it. He then brought out his knife and washed it. The water turned a thick browny-red colour and he shuddered.

A knock on the door startled Harry, and he flicked the knife upwards. He shook his head and put it (now clean) back in the holster. He had decided to put the holster on his calf, and covered it with his pyjama bottoms. Opening the door, he found Sirius and some of the Order outside.

"There you are! I thought you would wake up around this time but you were already gone!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Harry," Dumbledore began, "Would you mind coming downstairs to discuss something?" He asked.

Sirius knew at that moment that they was no going back now, and let out a breath. Remus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, holding back the urge to ask Dumbledore to wait, already knowing what his answer would be. Molly and Arthur listened carefully, hoping that Dumbledore might have changed of his mind about what he wanted to tell Harry.

"Sure," Harry replied weakly, "What about?" He asked.

"Something that I feel you should know." Dumbledore told him solemnly, his blue eyes not twinkling as much as normal. Harry sent a quizzical glance at Remus and Sirius, who both indicated the Headmaster. Harry, looking wary, descended the stairs and sat down in the kitchen, where some other Order members were waiting. Dumbledore sat at the head of the table, and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses. "it is time," he said, "for me to tell you what I should have told you four years ago, Harry."

And with that, he launched into the story of the Prophecy…

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Prawn cocktail Pringles are lush, hmmm? Next chappie is on the way today!**


	12. Confessions and Hugs

**Having cramp in feet**

 **Is quite strange to write about**

 **In haiku style**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 12

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...

Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...

And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...

And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

The table was silent. All eyes were on Harry who was staring at the Headmaster numbly.

"What?" he got out. Parents…thrice defied… seventh month… mark him… "Wait."

Something visibly clicked in Harry's mind and everyone held their breath, having been previously told, they all wanted to see how Harry would react. "Is this… is this about me?"

Dumbledore nodded. "It could also have been Neville Longbottom but he wasn't marked like you were." Harry's hand shot to his scar and Dumbledore nodded again. "Indeed."

"And 'either must die at the hand of the other'… I have to kill Tom or he'll kill me?"

"Yes" Dumbledore said regretfully, shamed by Harry's bluntness. Mrs Weasley looked tearful at Harry's blank face. A few members looked confused at Voldemort's birth name but were quickly filled in. Harry looked at Sirius and Remus accusingly. "Did you know about this?"

"We knew some but not all. We only heard all of it a few minutes ago." Remus answered him. Harry nodded then said flatly "Okay."

Everyone was taken aback. "…Okay?" Tonks questioned, surprised at Harry's acceptance at a possible death sentence. Harry's eyes went cold but only a few noticed. "Let's face it he won't leave me alone, so of course it's gonna end up with one of us killing the other." Percy stared at Harry in shock.

"So, you know that you'll have to…" he started.

"Kill him? Nothing I haven't done before. Hell, it should be easy for me by now." Harry's tone went icy and a few people flinched. He was obviously not happy. Harry's face went angry and his tone was bitter. "I'm already a murderer, what's one more?"

With that, he angrily pushed his chair back with a screech and stormed upstairs, annoyed at his leg pain. People called at him to come back but Harry ignored them. He was sick of having his life dictated. He never wanted to be famous. He had hoped it would all blow over but it seemed as if it would never end. If he killed Voldemort- yeah right- then it would never end. If he died, well then he'd never have to deal with it. One of them seemed very preferable, he thought as he strode into his room, slamming the door shut with a bang.

Hedwig was on a perch in the corner. "Hedwig!" Harry's surprised tone had lost all its malice and he went over to pet her instantly. He smiled at her. Her big amber eyes regarded him before she nipped him affectionately on the finger. Rubbing her snowy feathers, it took Harry a moment to register another person in the room. He whirled round, ready to strike and came face to face with an amused Ginny.

"Uh, Harry, this is my room. Well, mine and Hermione's. What are you doing?"

Harry flushed and looked around. The room, while identical to his and Ron's, certainly didn't have makeup, Holyhead Harpy posters and purple duvets in. She was right. He had barged into the wrong room. "Sorry Gin, I wasn't thinking." She laughed slightly and replied.

"Yeah I could tell. You came in looking ready to set fire to something, and then saw Hedwig and completely relaxed. Bit random."

Harry smiled hesitantly and said "Let's just say it hasn't been the best afternoon."

"I heard that there was a massive Order meeting about something important." Understanding flashed through her intense brown eyes

"Wait were you at the meeting?"

"Yeah, and I know we aren't supposed to be, but this was something about me, unfortunately."

"What?"

"Can't tell you Gin" Harry said apologetically. She raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. "You can't tell me?"

"No, no I want to but I can't. It's dangerous information and you could get hurt just for knowing it. I don't even want to know. Trust me, you're better off not knowing- it's what they wanted me to tell them at the Manor, what they tortured me for."

Ginny blinked. This was the first time he had talked about it to anyone since he had told the story. But that had been only facts, not what he had felt. She felt strangely flattered that he had opened up to her. "Okay, I don't need to know, I get it."

"I just don't want you to get hurt." said Harry.

Ginny ducked her head slightly and smiled "Okay."

They stared at each other for a minute before Harry snapped himself out of it and grabbed Hedwig. "Thanks for taking care of her Gin." He muttered, blushing slightly. Ginny nodded, also blushing, and said

"She's really nice; I wish I had an owl."

Harry cocked his head to the side. "Really? I didn't know that. What would you call it?"

Ginny immediately explained what she would call it and the explanation behind the name (Aries because it was her star sign). Harry listened attentively and asked lots of questions. They had been talking for over 2 hours when Remus burst through the door. Harry jumped of the bed where they had been sat, playing with Hedwig, and his hand instinctively flinched towards his knife. Remus regarded him with worry then amusement. "What were you two doing in here?"

"I was just showing Hedwig to Ginny and we were talking about owls. Why?" His tone had a hint of defiance, showing he was still angry about the earlier meeting.

Remus felt sad about Harry's anger then grinned at the situation and shook his head. The amount of times he had caught James when he was flirting with Lily, the whole scene was very familiar. Only problem was, Harry and Ginny were oblivious. Everyone in the house had bets on when they would realize it, along with when Ron and Hermione would notice. He sent Ginny a knowing look and she blushed.

"Everyone's looking for you two, dinner was called 10 minutes ago. I guess you were too busy to hear."

He left the room, chuckling heavily. Harry sent Ginny a confused look as he followed Moony and she shrugged. Everyone had been acting so weirdly lately.

Dinner was awkward. The kids knew something had happened, and they knew it had something to do with Harry, who was deep in thought and wasn't talking. The adults snuck glances at him every now and then, and looked quite concerned. Remus suddenly lit up for a second and he withdrew a familiar looking holly wand. Harry looked up. The Order was watching him closely and a faint expression crossed his face briefly. He took it and nodded his thanks to Remus. He then slid off his chair and hobbled upstairs, his plate empty. Everyone stared after him. Unseen, while everyone broke out into separate conversations, Ginny followed him.

She was curious when Harry turned into her room. He went straight over to Hedwig and stroked her, sitting down on Ginny's bed, creasing the purple duvet.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked tentatively. He sighed and looked her in the eye. She was overcome by the tornado of feelings in those intensely green eyes, and sat down next to him.

"You can tell me anything, I won't tell anyone."

"I've just had enough, Gin. They all want me to do something, and when Remus gave me my wand, everyone looked so expectant, like I was about to do some amazing magic. But I can't. I mean, I'm only good at DADA, everything else I'm just average. Why don't they choose Hermione to do it, she's the best in our year!"

Ginny listened carefully throughout his rant, taking in information. "Can't you just tell them to stuff it, whatever it is they want you to do, and just relax? Let them deal with it?"

Harry's lip twitched slightly. "As much as I'd love to go live on a tropical island and never come back Gin, this is something only I can do." His voice lowered and Ginny was shocked by the amount of sadness that poured from it. "Not that I'll be able to do it in the first place. It's impossible! I'll most definitely die trying, or be captured again. What they're asking- what they want- their _bloody_ expectations- I just can't Gin! Don't they care what I want, no, _need_ at all?" He had glassy eyes but did not let a single tear fall. His voice was thick with emotion. "Let's run away Gin. You, me, Ron and Hermione. Go live on that island and tell everyone to go away. Perfect."

Ginny instinctively wrapped her arms around him to try and leach some of the pain he was feeling out, and he hugged her back tightly. Ginny internally screamed.

Harry was hugging her! She had had a crush on him since her father had told her stories about the fearsome Boy-Who-Lived, who defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort without even a wand! As they took Ron to start Hogwarts, she had met a rather adorable scruffy black-haired green-eyed boy on the train station. She had secretly liked him too, only to find out that her crushes had quite a lot in common. Then came her horrific first year, as she slowly got more and more panicked over the diary. Finally she had fallen unconscious and woken up next to a very bloody Harry. He had not judged her; he understood what she felt and he had saved her life! Over the years, she had tried to push her crush away. She had gone out with some other boys. They had been nice. They had been brave. They had been funny. But not in the way that she wanted- not like Harry. And now he was hugging her!

Harry also had similar thoughts running through his head. Most of them being- I'm hugging Ginny Weasley! She smelt like honey and wildflowers. A small part of him gulped- he did not need these extra feelings. Yet he held on tightly still, and felt all his frustrations melt away. The part of him that hated the contact was squahed and Harry held on tighter, but not crushing. Neither of them saw the Twins' heads' pop round the corner and grin. They snapped a photo then disappeared. Harry withdrew from the hug, and smiled softly at Ginny, who was pink at the top of her ears. He stood up slowly and wobbled towards the door. He turned back around, his hand resting on the wooden frame.

"Thanks Gin" He whispered. She smiled shyly and he walked off to his bedroom, feeling slightly more confident about his future.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Just in case you haven't guessed- this is going to be so Hinny, it will make the canon look very unromantic. This chapter took a while because I honestly I just don't care- school sucks all the life out of me.


	13. Nightmares and Graveyards

**Listening to Charlie Puth- Nine Track Mind. It's really good. Very atmospheric.**

 **Here is chappie 13. For the love of Lucifer, please, someone review. I don't want to get angry. You won't like me when I'm angry. *hulks out and smashes keyboard***

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 13

Harry and Cedric landed awkwardly onto the rough ground with a thump. The Triwizard cup vanished into thin air. Harry's knees buckled and he fell to the ground heavily. Cedric watched him blankly. Harry's head shot up and he stared in horror at the graves that surrounded them. The sky was pitch black, no stars, no moon- almost as if there was no sky at all, just a void. The whole atmosphere was deadly quiet, creepy. A green explosion burst into the sky- the dark mark. Suddenly a barren skull with a malevolent snake sliding out of the mouth illuminated the entire place eerily brightly. They were in the graveyard, in Little Hangleton. Harry turned petrified eyes on Cedric and wildly yelled at him.

"Cedric, run! They're going to kill you!" Cedric just shook his head pitifully.

"Kill the spare!" A cruel high pitched voice ordered from nowhere.

"No!" Harry yelled hysterically.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Another voice, slightly softer and hoarse, rang out around the graveyard, shaking Harry straight to his core. The all-too-familiar bolt of icy-green tore through the air, heading straight towards Harry. He pulled desperately on his feet painfully but it was no good- he couldn't move. His feet were somehow stuck to the ground. The light thundered rapidly towards him, then, as Harry watched in confusion, slowed. Cedric stepped forwards in front of him.

He was directly in the path of the fatal spell. Harry's eyes shot to him, evidently distressed. "No, Cedric, no, run!" Cedric just shook his head, a tight smile on his face.

"This is what happens when people get close to you, Harry."

His eyes turned blood red for a second, glaring hatefully. Then the green enveloped Cedric, his eyes turning glassy, like a doll. His face froze in an expression of absolute shock. He fell limply to the floor. Dead.

Harry fell to his knees in anguish and chains wrapped themselves around his hands, pinning them to the wall behind him. Harry tried to breathe slowly as he sobbed but it was no good- he was in the dank torturous dungeons at the manor. Nonononono- a voice chanted through his brain in denial. No, he escaped. He got out, he made it, he wasn't back, no. the familiar clang directed his attention to the door on his cell. Bellatrix strode in with…no... Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, everyone behind her, looking absolutely battered. They lined up along the opposite wall. They all smiled pitifully at Harry who looked absolutely horror-struck.

"What are you doing here?" he breathed, barely daring to speak. They all smiled tightly at him.

"It's because we knew you that this had to happen."

Voldemort strode through the door, his black robes billowing out behind him like smoke. He grinned evilly at Harry. Then turned his wand on them all. Many voices cried out-

"Avada Kedavra!" shot towards his friends, courtesy of Voldemort.

"Crucio!" was fired by many death eaters, as one spell simply didn't affect him anymore, hitting him in the centre of his chest and the familiar pain ripped through him, as his friends dropped like stones to the floor, their eyes blank and vacant…

A pain-filled yell screamed throughout the house, awaking everyone immediately. Sirius shot up in bed and scrambled out the bedroom door, his wand in his hand already. The scream was so horrifying, it made Sirius shiver. He wanted to find whoever it was and give them anything to make them better. He joined a small host of people all heading towards the scream, and only when they approached a certain door did Sirius realize it was Harry.

Never before had Sirius heard Harry scream or even shout in pain, and it was instantly the most terrifying thing he could ever hear. No-one had heard Harry scream either, or even cry, so they were extremely panicked. They shot through the door.

Ron was on the side of Harry's bed, shaking his best mate profusely. And as for Harry himself, he was shaking and sweating, clearly in some kind of awful pain. He flung out fists, trying to punch off his phantom attacker. By now Sirius had joined Ron and was trying to wake him up. The rest of the worried household were watching on the sidelines. Harry looked to be in agony, thrashing and yelling himself hoarse.

Harry's struggles ceased and his brilliant green eyes snapped open. "RUN!" He shouted desperately, lurching forwards into a sitting position. When he saw the group of people surrounding his bed, his eyes widened and his mouth opened in a soundless cry of surprise and fear. He raised his hands as if to protect his face.

The people in the dark room were blasted away from him by a massive surge of magic that manifested itself in a translucent, fiery blue shield that expanded around Harry, who had pressed his sweaty back against the wall by the bed. The Order members, most of which had been slammed into the walls or furniture, groaned as they recovered and stood once more, only to gape at the magnificent display of pure wandless and powerful magic. Dumbledore's blue eyes were open in shock and awe. When anyone reached out to touch the dome shaped shield tentatively, they were able to press their hands against it firmly and could not move past it.

Harry's breathing slowed as he took in the destruction. He turned a shade of green and bolted from the room, the arc of magic dissipating, flinging the crumpled bed sheets away. They heard violent retching and Sirius's eyes widened. Along with Remus, they rushed into the bathroom. Harry was on his knees, throwing up. He had sweat falling rapidly down his face and his hair was crazily sticking up in a thousand different directions. He was deathly pale, making all his many scars and unhealed injuries stand out. The bruises looked painful and the cuts appeared very red. Sirius sent a panicked glance at Remus, but he looked as lost as him. As it turned out, they didn't have to anything.

Harry sat back on his heels, calming his breaths. He shakily stood up and looked in the mirror. He disgustedly wiped away his sweat and rubbed the back of his hand over his hand. He was trying to rub away the memories that had been haunting him, taunting, teasing, tempting until he could take it no longer. Hiding it did nothing, it only made his friends feel better. But now they would all know, as his supressed memories had burst out of him in a firework of bloody emotion. He felt dirty and contaminated. Then, ignoring his ghostly reflection, walked back to his bedroom. Everyone had left his room by then; all relocating to the kitchen where they would no doubt talk in hushed voices and wait for his arrival.

Harry rolled his bloodshot eyes tiredly and clambered back into his bed, flipping over his sweat drenched pillow automatically. It was practically a routine. Stupid, he told himself harshly. He didn't take any dreamless sleep, still too caught up in his thoughts about Ginny and the Prophecy to think straight or clearly. And now everyone knew just how bad his nightmares were. Although if anything, that dream was rather tame. He had previously had much, much worse dreams. He let his head fall down heavily onto the cool dry side of the pillow and closed his red-veined eyes, although he knew from experience that he wouldn't get any more sleep tonight.

He was dreading the talk in the morning.


	14. Cores and Electives

**Dangerously is a good song. High notes, man. Ah well, here tis chappie 14.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 14

Harry sat in the chair stiffly. All the Order's eyes were on him. The other kids were still asleep. Mrs Weasley placed a hearty plate of breakfast in front of him, and he smiled quickly at her, like he always did. She smiled sadly and he looked away. Dumbledore cleared his throat and leant forwards at the table.

"Harry, are you better now after last night?" Harry could see the caring in his eyes but also knew what he meant. He was checking if Harry wanted to talk about the nightmares or the accidental magic. Well, Harry thought grumpily, may as well get it over with.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He didn't see the many eyes that rolled at that familiar statement everyone hated. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, though slightly muted. "Harry" he started as Harry started in on the seemingly never-ending pile of food in front of him "that accidental magic last night was very impressive. I have rarely seen a shield that strong, and wandless too. And non-verbal. Have you ever done any other wandless magic like that Harry?"

Harry swallowed his mouthful of toast, it suddenly lodging in his throat as memories of his younger magic flowed in. He was always punished whenever it happened and he'd rather not think about all those nights in the cupboard.

"Uh, I regrew my hair, shrunk a jumper, blew up Marge and kind of appeared on top of the school roof once."

A small silence descended as everyone seemed to be waiting for more. Harry raised an eyebrow then remembered one more.

"Oh, and I vanished some glass in a snake enclosure at the zoo. But that's it."

Dumbledore looked puzzled. "Any more?" He seemed to be mildly confused about something. Harry shook his head. "That was it. No more."

Tonks jumped in, her hair a curious orange colour. "But- Harry when-when you're younger, you're supposed to do all of that in, like, a day. There's supposed to be accidental magic all the time."

Harry furrowed his brow. "The Dursleys hated magic so I just stopped doing it."

Everyone looked stunned. "Stopped?" Bill questioned, his eyes wide.

"Yeah…is that bad?"

"Harry, no-one can restrain their magic at that age." Dumbledore chimed in, his eyes in full twinkle mode. "You must have had an incredible amount of control over your magic then. That could have contributed to last night. Do you mind if we test it, just to be sure? It could be highly beneficial to you in the future."

Harry nodded, blushing at the unexpected praise. Then he realised Dumbledore was talking about the prophecy, and his mood dropped slightly. "Fine, when?"

Dumbledore turned to Sirius. "Can we borrow one of the old Black wands?"

1 hour later, Harry was in the dingy Black basement again, running his hand over different wands. He was supposed to feel a difference when he found a close match to his rightful wand but he didn't feel anything-

Wait.

2nd in from the left felt warm, as if the air was moving around it. It was around 10 inches and made of ash. It had swirls carved around the base. It was lightweight, Harry thought as he picked it up. "Ash, 10 and ¾ inches with a Hungarian Horntail heartstring." Sirius remarked as he reached in and quickly scooped up the remaining wands off the wooden table to place them back on the shelf. Harry nodded and swished it. Gold and black sparks trailed out of the end, bright but not as bright as they were with his holly-phoenix wand. Sirius and Remus clapped like kids and Dumbledore chuckled.

"Very well, Harry has found a suitable second wand."

Harry looked up with narrowed eyes. "Second wand? But I thought we were only using it for a quick test."

Dumbledore smiled mischievously. "It is always good to have a spare and it is not registered with the Ministry therefore cannot be traced. Call it a summer wand." Harry blew out a breath, rolling his eyes at his cunning headmaster. Sirius, grinning, walked towards a door Harry had not seen. It was very old and completely submerged in cobwebs. Harry heard Sirius muttering curses at Kreacher, the deranged house-elf, as he brushed the years-old dust away from the door. He smirked at Harry.

"I may hate this house, but I've gotta admit, it does have its perks." He flung the door open widely and Harry's jaw dropped. They were facing a huge, obviously magically expanded room. It had high arched ceilings and a long wooden duelling platform. The walls and floor were made of a warm brown marble-like stone and Harry felt instantly excited.

"Will we be practising here?" He queried with his eyes wide. Sirius beamed at his enthusiasm, and Remus appeared next to Harry. Harry jumped slightly, his hand flinching towards his concealed knife on his calf. He didn't see the look Sirius gave him.

"Remus, where did you come from?"

"I just came to check out how the test is going."

Dumbledore blinked to attention. "Yes, yes, we must start. Harry, wand out please." Harry pulled out the wand he had stuffed into his jeans and held it tightly. He wasn't going to ever let his wand (although it was wands now) go. If he had had his wand on him when he was taken, he could've escaped. They might have stolen it, but he could've put up a fight. He looked up to see Dumbledore looking expectant at him. He realized he had been staring at his wand and had missed a question.

"Pardon?" Harry asked, flushing, slightly. Dumbledore smiled and repeated his question.

"How does your magic feel Harry? Can you feel it?"

"Feel my magic? Uh- how?"

"Harry, just close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Feel the magic rising from a place of strength. Feel it building and building. Think about how it feels when you use it and how it feels when you don't. Try to differentiate between the two states of magic."

Harry, following his instructions, closed his eyes. He found himself sitting down slowly. He focused on how it felt to cast Lumos. This was a spell that had very little memories connected to it. His breathing evened after around 10 minutes of this. He sunk deeper into himself until he was in a place he didn't recognize. A silence washed over him and he foraged around his mind for a few more minutes. It was full of shadows, very grey with lots of things moving about that Harry couldn't out his finger on, like ghosts in his mind.

There.

A flash of white snuck like a fox out of his sight and he chased it immediately. It flew about; swooping around his mind sending sparks everywhere. It was like an overexcited firework made of pure energy. Harry couldn't help but laugh- this was amazing! After dashing around wildly for some more time, he made his move. He lunged forwards and caught his bare magic with two hands. It vanished, but not before making Harry's entire body jump in an unexpected shock.

He opened his eyes in real life, with a grin on his face. The grin slowly faded as he took in the room. Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus were on the floor unconscious and the air was thick with something. Harry thought if he lit a match, the entire atmosphere would erupt into a giant fireball. He rushed over to Remus, who was nearest, and reenervated him. Remus sat up cautiously and stared at Harry in awe. Together, they silently awoke the other two. Dumbledore and Sirius also gave him similar looks, curiosity and pride mixed together. They took a seat on the edge of the dueling platform. Harry spoke first.

"Guys, what happened?"

Dumbledore responded. "I asked you to feel what your magic was like Harry. What went on inside your head was a little different, though. I have my suspicions but I think I know what happened."

Everyone looked at him in anticipation. Harry felt worried. Had he done the wrong thing? "Harry, I think you connected with your magical core." Sirius's and Remus's jaws dropped. Harry was still worried and now confused. "What does that mean, sir?"

"Connecting with your magical core is very difficult, Harry. I connected to mine in my seventh year at Hogwarts. There are very few people in the world that can do this. Ancient monks used to sit for weeks, months even, to try and do what you just did in around 20 minutes." Harry felt shocked. He felt he had been in his mind for much longer.

"What does this mean?" Harry was dreading the answer. He didn't want to be anymore of a freak than he already was. Dumbledore surveyed him for a second before answering.

"It means that you are exceptionally powerful, Harry. With the right amount of training you could have the potential to be unstoppable." He sounded slightly lost in his own memories, and Sirius elbowed him gently until he regained focus and continued.

"Well this beats my idea of having you try some slightly more powerful spells in the year above." They all chuckled slightly, lifting the tension a bit.

Harry, we will have to get you controlling this amount of power straight away. You found your magic very quickly- this means that your energy must be huge. You would not have been using your complete power over the last few years, after suppressing it so heavily in your childhood." Harry looked abashed at this.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to suppress it; I just didn't want the accidental magic to happen anymore."

Sirius turned away to hide his furious expression, as Remus relaxed his own face. The Dursleys had a lot to answer for, even if they were dead. Teaching a child to try and hide his magic was just wrong. It always resulted in squibs or people unable to control their magic at all. Harry was the odd one out as usual, only this time it worked to his favour. By suppressing it, it would have built up, metaphorically stretching the amount of magic Harry had until it filled his core up completely. It could still be growing for all they knew. Your magic didn't stop growing until you stopped puberty.

Dumbledore was still having similar thoughts, only his were a lot sadder. Ariana, his beautiful baby sister had done what Harry had done. She had tried to hide her magic after muggle boys had seen her perform accidental magic. They had tried to force her to show them again. Only it went wrong for her. She became uncontrollable, wild, eventually killing their mother accidently.

Albus had tried to take care of her, what with their father being in prison and all, but he needed to leave, escape and seek his own dreams. Luckily his little brother Aberforth had always been there for her. Until that fateful day… Albus wiped all memories from his head. No. this time it would be different. He would train Harry, turn him into the greatest Wizard alive. He couldn't be prouder of his almost grandson.

"We can help you train as much as possible here, then we can somehow work it out at Hogwarts as well. Perhaps Sirius and Remus could come in on certain days, avoiding everyone else of course?" Albus suggested.

They nodded eagerly, happy to get out the house and spend time with Harry. Harry's head shot up as he recalled an earlier conversation. "Professor, can I ask you something?"

"You already have, but I'm sure I can allow another." Dumbledore replied with his eyes twinkling. The corner of Harry's lips twitched up as he asked

"So, the electives I chose were COMC and Divination." He saw Remus perk up in the corner of his eye, wondering whether Harry would take his advice to heart. "And, well, Professor you know what divination is like. Professor Trelawney only predicts my death "(all 3 adults flinched slightly)", and I'm no seer. Would it be possible to change electives at this stage?"

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a minute before tilting his head and asking "Which elective would you choose Harry?"

"Either Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, I think. It's just I don't see how divination would help in the future, and I'm failing it anyway. Would I have enough time, what with OWLS this year?"

Dumbledore nodded. "We actually have to change the electives for divination students a lot. It seems they feel if you do not have the inner eye; the class is not worth taking. A small part of me agrees. I'll talk to Professor Babbling and Professor Vector today. They know the drill. In the meantime, why don't you brush up on the subject with Miss Granger? Or Miss Weasley, as they both take at least one of those subjects."

He smiled knowingly at Harry and his eyes sparkled. Remus and Sirius grinned. Harry was still very confused. Did everyone in the house know something he didn't? Ignoring his headmaster's confusing antics, he nodded and they began to discuss a training plan.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **I've listened to Wherever You Go by Onerepublic about 36 times already- it's stuck in my head! I could probably tell you all the lyrics off by heart.**


	15. Shops and Mirrors

**I wore a tank top today and felt so self conscious. It was as if everyone was staring at me. Please review with any ideas about where the story will go. I welcome any ideas, although I sort of have a general outline about where this is going. Trust me, it's gonna get interesting. Here's some heavy angst for ya.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 15

Harry panted heavily as he sprinted down the long side of the training room. In the training plan, they had put down physical fitness as well as magical. In the eloquent words of Sirius 'more flab equals more of a target'. This, of course, didn't apply to Harry, who was stick thin from his forced extreme dieting. He just needed to build up muscle and stamina. So he was currently sprinting laps around the training room, sweat trickling into his eyes. The pain from his broken legs was nearly non-existent, just twinging every now and then. His healing potions had worked miracles.

He skidded to a halt at the end. He had been running for around 2 hours, and he felt like he was going to pass out. They went back to school in around 7 days, and he was determined to improve by then. His spell casting was sloppy and slow, and he had a small spell repertoire. He needed to improve. Gritting his teeth, he decided to run for one more lap, just to break through. He had to set his limits high so he could push them higher.

He looped around the large room in record time and then finally left. He had been working non-stop since their meeting this morning; it cleared his overcrowded mind somewhat. His head was a mess- memories of the unspeakable torture, his Aunt's emaciated body, the car crash, Cedric, the constant headaches from his scar. It was enough to drive him insane.

He ascended the old stairs tiredly and opened the basement door that went into the lounge. There were a few people in there but they didn't notice him. He stepped forwards into something solid. Harry jumped and flinched slightly- Ginny was right behind the door. She froze and stared at him. Harry was shirtless and very sweaty, with lots of scars littered about. His ribs were also easily visible. Harry flushed and Ginny blinked. "Uh… Harry… I ..." Everyone looked over and the twins smiled at each other. George hastily snapped a photo without anyone seeing.

Ginny swallowed then grinned at Harry before fleeing the room, bright red. Harry stared after her as the other people in the room laughed knowingly. He skirted around the sofa and went upstairs to his room, cursing himself. How could he let anyone see him with a top off? His scars were hideous and he looked like a starved child, he thought darkly. No wonder he had been kidnapped so easily, it wasn't as if he could've fought them off. He had no muscle, he was like an alien. Great, now they would all know how freaky he looked. He sat down on his bed and stared at himself in the mirror hanging on the orange wall opposite. Ron had obviously painted the room in Chudley Cannons style.

Most of his injuries were gone. His cuts were scars, his bruises were gone and the mangled skin where his chains had been had scabbed over. The thin werewolf scars had faded somewhat, but were still visible. He had one from his hairline to his other ear, one from his eyebrow to his jaw and one from his cheek to chin. They were silvery and Harry glared at them in disgust. No wonder everyone had laughed at him. He was turning into Mad-eye Moody. Typical- Voldemort had to take everything. He was ugly- how could any of his friends even look at him? He stayed that way for a while, silently analysing and criticizing himself in the mirror before Ron came in. Ron strode in, oblivious to Harry's inner turmoil, and said excitedly to Harry

"We're going to Diagon Alley!"

"You haven't been already?" Harry's self-loathing rose as he asked.

Ron said "Well, no, we wanted to wait for you. But Mum reminded us and we're leaving in 10 minutes. Come on mate, get ready!"

Harry smiled at his best friend's enthusiasm. Ron was so good to him and everyone loved him. Why had he even chosen Harry as his best friend? He could do better- he could find someone who wasn't constantly endangering him. Harry nodded, keeping his face neutral, and put on some different clothes. Long sleeves to hide scars and thick jeans for leg support? Check. Comb hair over scar? Check. He didn't want anyone to recognize him. He glanced at himself one more time before casting a glamour spell over his facial scars. The last thing he needed was for someone to point them out, he thought, as he joined his friends at the fireplace ready to go. Sirius was in his animagus form, desperate to escape the house and unwilling to leave Harry

Hermione bit her lip. Harry had covered up his scars. It would have made him look much younger if he didn't have such melancholy eyes. She could sense his troubled thoughts and nudged Ginny, who had already noticed. In fact, everyone had. No-one said a thing though, and they all took a handful of floo-powder. The flames burst into green as Mr Weasley went first and Harry flinched imperceptibly at the reminder. Padfoot nudged his hand with his head, and Harry stepped forwards. He threw the fine pinkish powder in and ducked into the grate.

"Diagon Alley!" Harry said, and the world spun in a blurry watercolour explosion.

His head righted itself and he pitched out of the fireplace quickly. Mr Weasley caught him, grasping onto his arm to support him. Harry flinched and nodded gratefully. He would need to work on his exits too. Ginny emerged just as Harry was brushing the soot off his jeans. She was wearing an orange t-shirt and white shorts, and Harry found his eyes flicking up towards her legs as the rest of the group flooed in. Arthur noticed this and hid a grin behind his hand. He couldn't think of anyone better for Ginny than Harry, he just wished they would realise. He suspected his wife had mentioned something to Ginny as she couldn't exactly look Harry in the eye for more than a minute.

Mrs Weasley clapped her hands and everyone looked at her. "Right! She said.

"If we split into groups, we should be able to get a lot more done. Arthur, Percy, Charlie and I shall be one group. The twins, Tonks and Remus are another. Bill, Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny are the last."

Padfoot barked.

"Oh and Padfoot is going with Harry, just so long as he stays out of trouble." She glared sternly at Sirius who bounded around with his tongue out.

"Right! Everyone go grab your school stuff and meet back here at 4. It's currently 1 o'clock. You all have previously taken out money for you. Move out!"

She said, sounding like a drill sergeant. Harry guessed she had a lot of practise in getting her children school supplies. She handed everyone small bags of money from their individual vaults, the Weasley's bags significantly lighter than everyone else's. Everyone grinning, they all broke off into groups and left.

Hermione turned to the rest of the group. "We're nearest to Flourish and Blotts, can we go there first please? She pleaded and everyone agreed. They headed into the large store and Hermione instantly disappeared. Ginny and Bill went into the Ancient Runes section and Harry and Ron went into the Defence Section. Harry re-read the book list. It said:

Fifth year students will require:

 _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_ by Miranda Goshawk

 _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard

 _Inanimate and Animate Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

 _Advanced Poisons and Antidotes_ by Arsenius Jigger Jr

 _Everyday Household Charms You Need To Know_ by Dean Seltops

 _Magical Theory Volume 5_ by Adalbert Waffling

 _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

 _One Thousand More Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore

 _Training and Taming Beasts_ by Lucina Scamander (If taking COMC)

 _Basic Rune Translation_ by Valentine Fray (If taking Ancient Runes)

 _Numerology and Creation_ by Dax Hardman (If taking Arithmancy)

 _Advanced Palm Reading_ by Cassandra Vablatsky (If taking Divination)

 _Muggle Laws and Famous Criminals_ by Wilhelm Wigworthy (If taking Muggle Studies)

Harry narrowed his eyes at the DADA book. Voldemort was back and he doubted 'Magical Theory' would help them prepare. Still, he grabbed it off the shelf and was about to leave when another book caught his eye. "Confronting The Faceless." Harry muttered, and then also took it. Padfoot nudged his leg and smiled widely. He also grabbed a few more, '100 Curses and Hexes', 'Attacking the Attackers', 'How to Confuse your Enemies', 'Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts' and (he hesitated for a moment then steeled his resolve) 'Knowing the Dark Arts'. He now had too many books to hold so he dumped them in a basket.

Ron came over to him with only the books he needed. "Bloody hell, are you Hermione in disguise?" He stated, raising his eyebrows. Harry rolled his eyes then went to get the rest of his books. He ignored the Divination section completely. Once he had grabbed all his basic subjects and COMC, he picked up every book from 1st year to 6th year in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. He went over to the till where the sales lady stared wide eyed. He had added some other books such as 'Animagi- Finding your Inner Animal', 'Advanced Concealment and Disguise', 'The Auror's Handbook' and 'A Basic Introduction to Wards'. Padfoot had danced around the shop when he had picked up the animagus book and still hadn't calmed down. The till lady shook her head and he could have sworn she had muttered the word "Ravenclaw". He thanked her and stood outside, after magically shrinking his bags, waiting for the others.

Ginny came outside first, holding a very heavy looking bag. Harry immediately leaned over and gently took it off her. She sent him a grateful look and rubbed her hand, where the plastic bag handles had left red indentations on her. Harry shrunk the bag to pocket size and returned it.

"Thanks," She said. "I presume that's what you did with your bags- how many books did you get?"

"I just grabbed a few extra. Trust me, it'll be nothing compared to what Hermione comes out with." They both laughed and sure enough, Hermione staggered out with Ron and Bill holding 3 very large bags. Bill and Harry shrunk them and soon they were heading towards their next store with Padfoot dashing about in front. The great black dog gave out a joyful bark and gamboled around them, snapping at pigeons and chasing its own tail. They couldn't help laughing- Sirius had been on lockdown for a very long time in a house he hated and he deserved some time outside. Many witches and wizards watched the happy dog, smiling.

Hermione steered Harry away from the Daily Prophet building- the things they had been printing, she hoped Harry never found them. Harry had visited the Ministry yesterday and pointed fingers, gave intricate details but they all brushed it off. Ever since Harry had told them Voldemort was back, no-one believed anything he said. He had angrily shown them his injuries, and while some started to see sense, the Minister simply left. Rita Skeeter had implied Harry had done it to himself. Harry had got furious over that and went to practise some heavily damaging spells.

They stopped off at Madame Malkins for a while, grabbing some new robes, then had a quick break at Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop. Harry chose raspberry with nuts on and Ginny had the same. Bill and Ron chose chocolate with all the toppings and Hermione had a vanilla with a flake. Sirius shared parts of everyone's. When the Weasleys weren't looking, Harry put an extra galleon into their money bags. He couldn't think of anyone who deserved more money than the Weasleys. He also felt like he owed them- they had taken such good care of him recently, even more than usual.

Sirius watched all this happen with mixed feelings. His pup was so caring and sensitive, but whenever anyone looked away, Harry's carefully constructed mask would fall and he looked so sad. The last few months, including June, had hit him far harder than anyone had realized and Sirius feared they would lose the happy, kind boy they all loved. He was closing himself off slightly and God knows what he was thinking. Sirius wished he was psychic.

They got up to leave, Harry insisting on paying the bill, and ducked into various shops along the way. When they went into the magical menagerie, Harry couldn't help but notice the way Ginny's eyes flickered towards an owl in the corner. It was a tawny owl but its feathers were a burnt red colour at the bottom. Its eyes were green and it looked very intelligent. Harry filed that information away for later and tried to calm down Padfoot who was scaring all the cats.

The colourful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons jumped out at them, and, not for the first time, Harry marveled at the beauty of Diagon Alley. It made a lovely change from his dark bloody cell and the gloomy Grimmauld place.

Quality Quidditch Supplies took up a lot of their time while Hermione read one of her books outside. Ron and Bill were fantasizing about brooms. Harry bought some new broom polish and Ginny checked out some quaffles. They were having a sale. She looked at them sadly before reluctantly checking her money bag. She was shocked to find that she actually had enough and bought one straight away. A big grin stretched across her face, making Harry smile. She tossed the red leather ball about as they walked, doing some neat tricks that made passersbys stare.

They visited Slug & Jiggers Apothecary and Sugarplum's Sweets Shop for some potion ingredients and sweets. "Not to be mixed up!" Bill had told them, smiling. "In my year there was a boy who put fizzing whizbees into his potion instead of porcupine quills. It blew up and gave him warts on his face for months." Ron snorted and the girls giggled.

"What did Snape do?" Harry asked.

"I believe he gave him 3 months detention and called him a-"

"Dunderhead!" They all chorused, laughing. They all knew Snape's favourite insults perfectly. Padfoot growled and ran to a puddle. He dipped his head in and bounded back to them. His hair was dripping and looked very greasy- it was a perfect imitation of Snape. It set them all off again and they had to sit down on a nearby bench. Harry checked his wrist but forgot he didn't have a watch on. In fact, it had broken during the second task a few months ago. The death eaters had removed it when he had arrived. He checked everyone's wrists and found Hermione had one on.

"Hermione, what's the time?" He asked.

She checked her silvery-blue watch. "It's 10 to 4, we better hurry back to the Leaky Cauldron, your mum is going to be waiting for us." They got up and headed back towards the pub, Harry, Ron and Ginny playing catch with the quaffle along the way. Harry asked Ginny what position she played as in Quidditch.

"I'm a chaser, in fact, I was thinking of trying out this year- I heard that Alicia is leaving the team to concentrate on her N.E.W.T.s . Angelina and Katie will still be there, along with Fred, George and you. We need a chaser and a keeper."

"So you're gonna be the new chaser?" Harry questioned, feeling oddly happy. Ginny nodded and Ron shifted a bit. He said

"If we need a new keeper, maybe I could try out…" He sounded slightly insecure but everyone fired off encouragement at him.

"Ron you'd be an excellent keeper!" Said Bill.

"We wouldn't have someone we don't know." Ginny added.

"It would look good for future employers to see that you could work in a team!" Said Hermione, of course.

"Yeah, mate, that would be great! We'd have a really good team then." Said Harry. The tips of Ron's ears went red. "Maybe we should practice when we get home…" Harry trailed off, remembering that they had nowhere to practice. "Or we could ask Professor Dumbledore if we could go to Hogwarts?" Ron shook his head.

"Nah, we can just throw about a quaffle. I'll practice when we go back to school. We go back in a week anyway." They all agreed and found themselves right outside the Leaky Cauldron. They went in and joined up with the other group. They all talked for a while, waiting for the last group to arrive, when a drawling voice sounded behind them.

"Ah, the Weasleys. Well, I'm afraid your little rag-tag party is blocking the fireplace." The voice sneered.

It was Lucius Malfoy. Harry tensed so hard he thought he might break. His knife was in his hand in a second, hidden from his view. Everyone's eyes flicked from Harry to Lucius. Lucius strode forwards, stopping in front of Harry. His eyes roamed, narrowing slightly.

"Potter, you look very well. I'm glad you stopped those rumours of you being captured, it wouldn't do any good for you to lie any more to the public, now would it?" Harry clenched his fists and teeth, resisting the urge to slash the man's throat open, watch him loudly gurgle his life away in a beautiful red fountain of blood. Lucius smirked slightly, then flooed out. Everyone besides Harry relaxed. His eyes were focused on the floo and Ginny walked up to him. She eased the knife out of his tight grip, eliciting shocked glances from the group who hadn't seen him take it out, and put it in his pocket. She then grasped his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Harry flinched and glanced at her apologetically. She whispered to him quietly

"Don't worry. We'll get him and he'll be behind bars for the rest of his life. Maybe even get the Kiss. He'll never go near you again, not if I can help it."

Harry rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, as the last group arrived, and whispered back. "It's not me I'm worried about. I just don't want him to get you, or anyone else. I can't help it." She nodded understandingly but didn't let go of his hand. One by one, they all flooed back, a slight tension in the air. Harry held on to Ginny's hand as long as he could. It was not unnoticed by the group and many smiles were hid.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Thank you to** **Derpington12 for the favourite! You made me smile today, so thanks!**

 **Also thanks to faeriespark for the favourite and the first review! Yay!**

 **Played 'Wherever I Go' far too many times today.**


	16. Packing and Hogwarts

**Holy Jesus sandals! I have over 2000 hits on this story. People in** **Peru** **have read this! Wow, thank you so much. Have you noticed my chapters have been getting longer? Not only am I adding chapters, I am also updating others. Also 30,000 words! I find it difficult to write 500 on homework and now look!**

 **I'm very happy!**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 16

Havoc rampaged throughout the house. People were shouting, things were being knocked over, chaos ran rampant…a typical September 1st for the Weasleys. It was finally time to return to Hogwarts. Harry was sat on his bed watching his best friend frantically pack as morning light filtered in through the orange blinds. He had been told for days to pack but, in the true Ron Weasley style, had left it until the last day. Harry had barely _unpacked_ ; he'd been living out of his trunk for the entire time he had been at Grimmauld place.

The last 6 days had been a blur. Harry had put a silencing charm around his bed every night since getting his wand back, and had occasionally taken a dreamless sleep potion. He was eating more without feeling sick and had thrown himself into training with vigour. Slowly but surely, his muscles were building up and he was looking slightly less skeletal. It still hurt to look in the mirror without a top on so Harry had cast glamours whenever he trained. If anything, the constant use of magic was strengthening his core.

Sirius and Remus had helped him train every day, giving him books from the Black library to read. He was learning many spells every day. Professors Vector and Babbling had dropped by and given Harry some quick tests. He had been reading up on the basics, much to Ron's shock, and surprisingly passed them. They had both agreed that he could join the fifth year classes so long as he took extra tuition to catch up. Harry had agreed eagerly. Professor Vector had actually told him that he had a proficiency for Arithmancy. Hermione and Ginny had been helping him as well- Hermione was the master of Ancient Runes and Ginny was good at Arithmancy. They were both very proud of him.

Yet Harry still felt wrong somehow. He still flinched and tensed whenever anyone touched him. His hand was constantly around his knife and he had almost cut Ron once. He didn't think anyone saw but himself though and he had quietly pocketed it. He couldn't explain it- he had killed people for heaven's sake! Wasn't anyone going to treat him differently? He had felt their warm blood slide down his hands and would do it again in a heartbeat. He was no better than a death eater.

These feelings stirred around him day and night. It stopped him from laughing and he felt like something was going to go wrong. Like there was a black lightning cloud hovering above him, waiting to strike.

Ginny had become his number one comforter, she always made him feel slightly better whenever she was near-he, he couldn't explain it. She just did.

Ron and Hermione had been made prefects. Harry hadn't felt jealous but rather envious. He wished he could be the type of person where the only thing they had to worry about was a prefect badge. He felt like if he had one more responsibility put on him, he would explode. He was proud and happy for them, Hermione had always wanted to be a prefect and Ron, well this was his chance to take the lead, show how much he had matured. Ron had been bought a new broom as a celebration- the second newest Cleansweep. He was very proud of it and showed it to everyone.

Hermione rushed into their room as Ron hastily stuffed all his socks into one corner. She was holding Crookshanks, her fat ginger cat, tightly and looked disapprovingly at Ron's messiness. She put her cat into Harry's arms and helped Ron pack, much to his surprise and he smiled gratefully at her. Harry stroked Crookshanks absent-mindly and hugged him. He smelt like Hermione- fresh parchment and daisies.

"Ron, you really should have packed before. You do this every year, I swear..." Hermione scolded, not really meaning it.

Ron looked at Harry and laughed. "Hermione, I think Harry's about to steal your cat." Hermione looked over and smiled- it was true. Harry did look rather attached to Crookshanks. Harry sighed, smiling, and released Crookshanks a little. He was about to say something when-

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE?" Mrs Weasley bellowed up the stairs and they all jumped. Ron pushed his lid down with all his strength and Hermione and Harry did up the clasps. They grinned at their teamwork before hurrying down the stairs. The twins apparated in front of them and Hermione ran into George, letting out an audible 'oof'. She glared at them.

"Just because you've learned how to apparate does not mean you have to apparate everywhere!"

"But Hermione-"Fred started.

"If we apparate-"George continued

"It means we don't have to walk-"

"Which make us-"

"Better than you." Fred finished, with a smirk. Hermione rolled her eyes and hurried towards an impatient Mrs Weasley.

"GINNY WILL YOU HURRY UP!" Mrs Weasley yelled in exasperation. There was a thump and they all looked up to see Ginny trying to lug her huge trunk down the stairs. Harry dropped his at once and went to go help, holding the front while she held the back. Everyone smiled. Harry caught Hermione's eye and said in an accent:

"To me."

Hermione laughed before responding "To you."

Ginny looked confused and Harry explained it to her as they all picked up their trunks and walked towards the door. Once they were out on the street, the grey stone steps of number 12 vanished. It went: Number 11 then Number 13. It was as if there was no house there at all. Harry knew of this spell- it was the Fidelius Charm. The one his parents had used. Hopefully, they had no Wormtails.

"How are we getting there?" Harry asked, looking around.

"We're going to have to go on foot, dear," Mrs Weasley responded. "Arthur couldn't get us Ministry cars again; Fudge won't let him borrow so much as an empty ink bottle." Harry felt slightly guilty at this but squashed it. Padfoot bounded towards Harry and Mrs Weasley shook her head. She had only just reluctantly agreed, as the Diagon Alley trip had gone so well, but didn't approve entirely.

It took them around twenty minutes to walk to King's Cross. When they had reached Platforms 9 and 10, they had stood around for a while before darting through. The bright red Hogwarts Express loomed into view and Harry grinned. He was going home…

They all stood around. It was 10 minutes to 11, and they were all saying goodbye. Padfoot trotted happily up to Harry and jumped up at him eagerly. Harry crouched down so he could stroke his head. Harry laughed as Padfoot slobbered all over his face. "Padfoot-stop-stop it!" Harry chuckled. His claw caught Harry on the way down on his wrist. Right where the cursed chain injuries were and Harry held in a gasp of pain. A strange feeling washed over him but he shook it off. He wasn't going to ruin the goodbyes by making everyone focus on him. He didn't want all the attention. Besides, it would just heal. He covered the blood stain quickly then stood back up as Padfoot danced around the group, his tail waggling in the air.

The everyday training had really improved things with Sirius. Before, their relationship was slightly awkward. Sirius seemed to see Harry more as James, and didn't know where to fit. Was he an uncle? A brother? It was all very uneven. Then, as they had spent more time together, Sirius had seen more of Harry- how he was more Lily than James. It had pushed aside any of his lingering feelings for Harry's father and now he was more of a parent to Harry, just the way a godfather should be. He encouraged him, taught him, talked to him and Harry could see that Mrs Weasley was approving of the change. Sirius seemed more responsible and acted to that purpose. He was a lot happier and felt free.

Remus was acing the uncle-mentor role. It was like the Patronus lessons, only a lot more fun and relaxed. He and Harry had a strong relationship. He helped duel with Harry and kept dropping hints about something to do with Ginny? Harry didn't know but he wished someone would come out and say it already.

And yet he didn't expect Remus to pull him gently into a hug. He still wasn't quite used to all the hugging. He tensed for a second then hugged back. Molly and Arthur were hugging all of their children, and the Grangers were there too. Remus patted his shoulder before saying:

"We'll be there on Wednesday, okay? Meet us in the room of requirement- Dumbledore will show you. One of the elves found it for him." Harry nodded. It was a Friday so there would be 2 days of settling in, then 3 days of school. Then he could be with his godfather and… screw it, Remus was his godfather too. He hugged Remus one more time.

Molly released a struggling Fred and looked over at the pair. She was glad Harry had Remus and Sirius. Even if they might be a little childish, they were good for Harry. She was just happy that the poor boy had a family. Not that they weren't family- the Weasleys had adopted him in their hearts years ago. He was as precious to her as her other children. She and Arthur walked over once they had stopped hugging their kids. Arthur hugged him quickly, well aware of the time. Harry turned red. Molly went in front of her husband and outstretched her arms towards Harry. He blushed again and stepped into the hug. She could feel his slight flinch and cursed every single death eater they had knowledge of. A whistle went off somewhere and she broke the hug.

"On the train, on the train! You're going to miss it!" She ushered them all towards the train. They joined a crowd. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering children, and a chorus of pets were loudly conversing. People were dragging trunks all over. The first few carridges were packed, as usual, so they made their way down to the end into their usual carriages. The twins left to go sit with Lee Jordan as Harry slid open the glassy carriage door. They put their trunks and pets in the corners and on the shelf, then sat down by the window. They waved at their families. Mrs Weasley was waving, waiting until they all appeared in a window. Her eyes brimmed with tears. She hated saying goodbye to all her children.

A whistle sounded shrilly and the train door closed after letting a few frantically late students hurry on. Harry sat back in his seat as the train slowly moved. It grew in pace until houses flashed past the windows. He withdrew a book on Arithmancy- he had already finished the basics and was moving into the 'spell creation branch.' It all looked very interesting. Hermione and Ginny followed his lead, taking out thick books of their own. Ron shook his head.

"I didn't know that this compartment was a library. If I had, I wouldn't have sat here!"

Harry and Ginny exchanged grins and ignored him. Hermione glared at Ron.

"Ronald we have our O.W.L's this year! We need to revise as much as possible or we'll fail!"

Ron gulped and fumbled around his messy trunk until he found a book. It was _Quidditch Through The Ages._ Ron shrugged and eagerly read the book. Hermione scowled as Ginny and Harry laughed. The journey drew on and soon the trolley woman was knocking on the glass pane.

"Anything from the trolley, my dears?"

Hermione bought some chocolate frogs. Ron and Ginny each bought a pumpkin pasty. Harry scanned the sweets and asked to buy a sugar quill. He handed her a sickle and she gave him 2 before leaving. He had accidently given her too much.

"No, wait, I only wanted one!" He said, but it was too late. She had already gone into the next carriage. Harry flopped back on his seat, shaking his head. He tossed it to Hermione because he knew that she liked them. She grinned at him, and soon the compartment was filled with everyone eating. That, of course, would be the perfect moment for Malfoy's annual visit.

The door slid open and hit the frame with a thunk, snapping everyone's head up. Malfoy was blocking the door, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. He sneered at all of them.

"Potter, shouldn't you be in St Mungos? In the loony bin?" He drawled. Ron clenched his fists and Hermione and Ginny glared at him. Harry, however, laughed softly, eyes still fixed on his page.

"Run along _Draco_. Go find someone else to whine at." Malfoy looked angry at Harry's dismissal and spat out his next words.

"I wouldn't be so tough if I were you, Potter. Don't forget, I heard your screams over the last two months. You were weak." All eyes turned to Harry, who held up a finger as he finished his page. Malfoy narrowed his eyes. Harry put his book down and retained his calm aura.

"And now I've been healed, so there's nothing stopping me from cursing you so heavily that you'll be confused which way is up." He tapped his pocket mockingly, where his wand was, and Malfoy glared at him.

"Try that and my father-"

Harry cut him off by waving a hand through the air.

"Oh trust me; I know perfectly well what your father is capable of." His voice went lower and more dangerous. "But he isn't here, is he? You can't go running to daddy all your life Draco, you're going to have to be a big boy and fight your battles for yourself."

Draco pulled out his wand, seeing Harry's comment as a challenge. Harry was quicker though, and had sent a stunning spell before Draco could even think of a spell to use. It hit him square in the chest and he collapsed. Crabbe and Goyle stared dumbly at each other. Harry stood up and kicked Malfoy's limp body out of the room. He pulled the door shut, only Malfoy's hand was in the way and he hit it harshly with a thump. Harry kicked his lax fingers out, one-by-one, before fully shutting the door. Ron grinned widely at him.

"Well done Harry! I've wanted to do that for years." Hermione also smiled but hers was tight.

"Harry, as great as that was, you know he's going to tell someone." Harry looked at her and thought about it.

"You're right." He said. He slid the door back open, where Crabbe and Goyle were about to drag Malfoy's body away. With a flick of his wand and a muttered incantation, Malfoy's fingers straightened and the bruising disappeared. Now there was no evidence of the scuffle, except for the fact Malfoy was unconscious and he would wake soon anyway. Harry closed the door for a final time, and sat back down as everyone grinned at him.

A few hours later, the train pulled in. They had already changed their robes, Harry and Ron had ducked into the toilets to change. Harry pulled off his and Ginny's trunks, then they all got off the train. Harry stared up at the magnificent castle, the stars glittering in the back ground, the moon illuminating everything. The lake water waves crashed against the rocks loudly. Everything was familiar and welcome- Harry was home…

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Thanks for the reviews! I wanted to add more to this chapter but i think it would be too much to put in one chapter. To the person who wanted more Harry/Sirius bonding, there'll be plenty in a few chapters time. I wish i could type faster- but hey! I'm staying home from school tomorrow because i've ripped a ligament in my knee and the knee went out of place so i'll have plenty of time to write then, okay?**

 **Stay awesome, people!**


	17. Speeches and Beasts

**Honestly, waking up in the morning to find loads of emails full of praise is just the best. Special thanks to** **darkFox920, sbmcneil, Lexi 123321, LilyRosehp, EnglishPeanut, wiccanjs1984 and faeriespark- you have all made me smile!**

 **As for the Ministry, well there'll be more on that in the next chappie. I did mention it briefly in chapter 15 but yeah, I should add more. 3000 Hits!**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 17

Once they had all got off the train with their trunks, they followed the streams of kids to the carts. The dark Hogwarts cliffs loomed around them. Hermione and Ginny got in, while Harry and Ron lagged behind, discussing the Chudley Cannons.

"Look Ron, just give it up, they're not going to-"

Harry froze in front of the dark wooden carts. He had only been on them in his third and fourth years but he could accurately remember what they looked like. Now, however, the horseless carts that transported students from the train to the castle gates were no longer horseless. They were being pulled by skeletal reptilian horses. They were fleshless, bones jutting out with their black coats stuck closely to them, with pure milky white eyes. Eerie leathery wings hung silently around them, making them look like anorexic dragons. Standing silently in the night gloom, they looked very sinister. Harry stepped forwards warily.

"Guys, what these things?" He asked. They looked round at him and confused expressions fell over their faces.

"Uh, what things, Harry?" Ron said, looking slightly worried, as Harry reached a hand out to pet the horse-things. Their black skin was dry and surprisingly thick. His friends exchanged glances anxiously. Ginny slid out of the carriage and placed a hand on his arm.

"What is it?" She said calmly, though her eyes looked slightly panicked.

"I don't know, some kind of horse. Hermione, do you know?" Harry responded, still transfixed on the strange creatures. Hermione bit her lip.

"Harry, I have no idea what you're talking about." She said bluntly. Harry drew his gaze away and looked curiously at them, before it hit him.

"Wait, you can't, you can't see them?" They shook their heads. Harry withdrew his hand quickly and narrowed his eyes. What were they? Harry suddenly felt very scared for his mental health. Had the torture been enough to push him over the edge of insanity? He shivered and got into the carriage, staring mutely into the distance. He ignored his friends' confused and concerned expressions. He blinked and looked back at the beasts as they set off. They were still there, tugging on the leads. Harry focused on the rattling of the wheels and said no more for the rest of the tense journey.

Soon, they were sat at their usual spot on the Gryffindor Table, right in the middle. The sky was dark and swirling, the moon barely there and the stars absent. Lots of people were staring at Harry, some suspicious and some fearful. Harry traced the lines in the wooden table absently and scanned the head table. He immediately found himself looking for the new DADA teacher, but was confused when his eyes rested upon a short woman decked out in pink. She had a face like a toad and a sickly smile. Harry felt a shiver run down his spine- he had seen that kind of smile before.

Ron drew him into a conversation about quidditch and after a while, the first years piled through the door. Some looked very wet and Harry assumed they had fallen in. A small part of him missed the boats; they always seemed more magical and awe-inspiring. Dumbledore stood and a silence fell across the hall. He stepped forwards and placed the hat onto the stool, while McGonagall stood to the side. The hat shifted slightly then it's brim burst open in song, startling a few first years:

 _In times of old when I was new_

 _And Hogwarts barely started_

 _The founders of our noble school_

 _Thought never to be parted:_

 _"Together we will build and teach!"_

 _The four good friends decided_

 _And never did they dream that they_

 _Might someday be divided,_

 _For were there such friends anywhere_

 _As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

 _Unless it was the second pair_

 _Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?_

 _So how could it have gone so wrong?_

 _How could such friendships fail?_

 _Why, I was there and so can tell_

 _The whole sad, sorry tale._

 _Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_

 _Whose ancestry is purest."_

 _Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

 _Intelligence is surest."_

 _Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

 _With brave deeds to their name,"_

 _Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,_

 _And treat them just the same."_

 _These differences caused little strife_

 _When first they came to light,_

 _For each of the four founders had_

 _A House in which they might_

 _Take only those they wanted, so,_

 _For instance, Slytherin_

 _Took only pure-blood wizards_

 _Of great cunning, just like him,_

 _And those of sharpest mind_

 _Were taught by Ravenclaw_

 _While the bravest and the boldest_

 _Went to daring Gryffindor._

 _Good Hufflepuff, had the loyal,_

 _And taught them to be true,_

 _Thus the Houses and their founders_

 _Retained friendships firm and through._

 _So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

 _For several happy years,_

 _But then discord crept among us_

 _Feeding on our faults and fears._

 _And for a while it seemed the school_

 _Must meet an early end,_

 _What with dueling and with fighting_

 _And the clash of friend on friend_

 _And at last there came a morning_

 _When old Slytherin departed_

 _And though the fighting then died out_

 _He left us quite downhearted._

 _And never since the founders four_

 _Were whittled down to three_

 _Have the Houses been united_

 _As they once were meant to be._

 _And now the Sorting Hat is here_

 _And you all know the score:_

 _I sort you into Houses_

 _Because that is what I'm for,_

 _But this year I'll go further,_

 _Listen closely to my song:_

 _Though condemned I am to split you_

 _Still I worry that it's wrong,_

 _Though I must fulfill my duty_

 _And must quarter every year_

 _Still I wonder whether sorting_

 _May not bring the end I fear._

 _Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

 _The warning history shows,_

 _For our Hogwarts is in danger_

 _From external, deadly foes_

 _And we must unite inside her_

 _Or we'll crumble from within_

 _I have told you, I have warned you..._

 _Let the Sorting now begin._

"What was that about?" Ron asked, bewildered, as the hall gave somewhat scattered surprised applause. Everyone was staring at the fabric in confusion. Shaking her head, Hermione stared at the Sorting Hat. "It wants us to unite, all the Hogwarts houses together."

A few older students turned to their house ghosts, murmuring questions about the hat and if it had ever done such a thing before and a few of them nodded but did not explain. Everyone was casting nervous glances around, quite a few directed at Harry, but the sorting began and they were quickly distracted. McGonagall unfurled her parchment list.

"Adams, Rebecca!" Was the first name to be announced.

A gangly girl stumbled forwards and sat down.

"Slytherin!" The hat cried out, and she went to go sit down as the table burst into loud applause. Another few names were called until:

"Bones, Marianne!" Was called out. A familiar looking girl with long brown hair and wide chocolate eyes walked forwards calmly. She turned and sat on the stool. There was a small scar to the side of her eyebrow which was quickly hidden beneath a lock of hair. Harry stared blankly at her- he could have sworn that he had seen her before…

"Gryffindor!" The hat yelled, and Harry's table erupted in cheers. Harry caught sight of Susan Bones, in Hufflepuff, looking slightly disappointed. Something clicked- she was her sister, which was why she looked familiar. He rested his chin on his hand and let the world slide out of focus. He could hear some more yelling, more movement and was aware of some new student joining Gryffindor. When that finally ended, Dumbledore stood, welcomed the new students, made a joke, and then started the feast.

There was an appreciative laugh that turned into hungry groans as copious amounts of food appeared out of nowhere, joints, pies, vegetables, soups, flagons of pumpkin juice, everything. Harry surveyed the table with a disconnected gaze then, when Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, took a bowl of soup to appease his friends. Ron tucked in hungrily. It was like he hadn't eaten in a week. Well, thought Harry, he'd never gone hungry in his life, now had he? He felt a flash of anger but buried it, slightly shocked at where it had come from. His soup was cooling, so he had a quick mouthful, not really tasting it. Ginny smiled at him and Ron from across the table after leaning away from her other conversations.

"Angelina is captain this year, guys. She says tryouts are on Tuesday and that Harry, you need to be there." Harry nodded and looked at Angelina who, indeed, had a badge pinned to the front of her robes. Hermione also had her prefect badge on. She nudged Ron and he grumbled, pulling his out of his pocket. Eventually, dinner disappeared, Harry's practically still full bowl going along with it, only to be replaced by mountains of puddings. Various groans could be heard from the new first years, who did not know the rule of saving room for dessert.

Once the students were finished with that, the plates cleared and Dumbledore again stood. This time Harry didn't look directly at the man, uncomfortable with his angry feelings swirling inside of him, and instead focused on the pink blob a few seats down from the Headmaster. Who was she? The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, obviously, but she wasn't the most qualified looking Harry had ever seen. She looked more the type to be filling out forms than teaching.

Dumbledore introduced first Grubbly-Plank as the Care of Magical Creatures professor for the meantime, which made Harry start and realize that Hagrid was missing. How he hadn't noticed the lack of the half-giant's huge presence by now baffled him. Dumbledore then told the curious hall that the woman was known as Professor Umbridge.

He tried to continue on the subject of quidditch trials which they already knew, but Professor Umbridge cleared her throat loudly. Her voice was high and Harry vaguely detected a cold tone to it. The headmaster stopped talking and turned to her, slightly surprised. The hall started to murmur at the action. It was unheard of to interrupt like that.

"Thank you, Headmaster."

Her voice was overly sweet, like she was trying to placate someone simple minded. Beside Dumbledore, McGonagall visibly bristled. "I always appreciate such kind words of welcome. It's lovely to be back here at this wonderful school!" She made a wide gesture to indicate Hogwarts. Did she think they wouldn't be sure which school she referred to? "But not as wonderful as seeing all your happy little faces smiling up at me." A quick glance around the room showed that none of the faces looked particularly happy, nor were there any smiles. People were staring at her with a growing horror and disbelief. "I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you, and I think we'll all be very good friends!"

A sneer formed on Parvati Patil's face. "Not in that outfit." She grumbled, pressing her hand to her brow like she was shielding her eyes from the bright outfit. She and Lavender Brown were Gryffindor's top 'fashionistas' and the heads of the gossip circulation.

With another throat clearing, which made Harry wonder if she practiced the sound to be as annoying and condescending as possible, her smile turned a bit more brisk and business-like.

"The Ministry feels that standards here are not quite up to what is promised to the students and their parents, which is of vital concern to all of us. Each of you has gifts that need to be carefully cultivated, with strong guidance, lest they be lost to not only all of you but the community at large. The noble profession of teaching is designed to polish and guard the treasures of our world, in both the knowledge it passes on and the way it molds the students into the best they can be."

Here she paused, nodding at all of them like she'd said something deep and meaningful. The words seemed very practiced and well-rehearsed, and Harry tilted his tired head at her and concentrated on her more closely. She was up to something…

Taking a deep breath, she continued in her girly tone. "As each generation comes through these hallowed halls, they are influenced by the guiding hand of those protecting their education. Chief among these are the Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts, each of whom brings a unique experience and ideal into this amazing institution. It is a weighty task, as well as a vital one, for without these new voices the knowledge and ways amassed here would fade and stagnate. This job is not one that can be left to one man, and so the Ministry must occasionally step in to lend a hand to make beneficial changes, and to help balance between progresses and tradition in a way only a grouping of many, united under a leader, can."

Narrowing his eyes, Harry mentally reviewed that, tossing out as many of the fluff words as he could. The Ministry didn't feel Dumbledore was up to par, and so there were standing in. But how much influence did they have? What 'beneficial changes' would they make?

A quick glance around told Harry that most of the student's attention was flowing away. Few people were really staring at her with any sort of true attention. Most of the ones who were still even looking at her had glassy, far away expressions. The only focused eyes he could see were the brown orbs of Hermione, who was staring at Umbridge with an expression that was slowly going mulish.

"The influences around you can be positive as well as negative, and so the Ministry wishes to make sure your minds are kept clear of misinformation and misunderstandings as much as possible. We shall preserve that which should be preserved, protect what must be protected and prohibit what must be prohibited. We can bring new life to what needs it, cutting off only the excess, and pulling out the weeds and scaring off the hidden predators which seek to make your minds prey."

Finally, she sat, looking pleased with herself. Dumbledore was the first to start clapping, and soon the staff and then the students joined him after a pause. Harry did not partake in the applause, instead staring down at the table, feeling like something very bad was about to happen. He turned to Hermione as Ron asked:

"What the bloody hell was that all about?"

Harry and Hermione both responded at the same time. "It means the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts." Everyone got up to leave, but Ron and Hermione had to sort out the first years. Harry slipped past them and started to make up his way up on his own, when a voice behind him said.

"Harry, wait!"

Ginny caught up to him, with Neville behind her. They walked in a companionable silence until they reached the fat lady's portrait. Harry went blank as he realized he did not get the password. The look on Ginny's face told him she didn't know either. Luckily, Neville knew it. It was 'semper fortis' which meant something in Latin. Neville had exchanged shocked looks with them, and they walked into the common room laughing. It had been a major issue, remembering passwords, for Neville, and now he knew it before anyone else.

The common room was bathed in warmth from the pre-lit fire, and it enunciated the red and gold colouring of the room. The red sofas looked comfier than ever. The dark wooden tables were still there, with all the initials carved into the legs that had been accumulated over time. Harry was forcibly reminded of his torso, and repressed the urge to be sick.

He muttered a good night to Ginny and Neville, and then sped up the stairs into the dormitory. Walking over to his bed, his stomach rumbled, but he ignored it. He became fully aware of the fact he had had around four spoonfuls of soup- it was strange, the way he honestly did not care. Harry pulled off his top, and then caught sight of himself in the bedroom mirror. And hastily put it back on. No, he could not be caught like that.

He flopped down on his bed, pulling the curtains shut numbly. Hedwig flapped her wings outside on her perch, annoyed at being ignored. He rolled over and pushed a hand under the curtain, fumbling for his trunk. He popped the catch open and searched blindly until his hand fell on something cold and glassy. It was a potion vial. He pulled it out, checking it was definitely Dreamless sleep, then chugged it. The vial rolled off his bed and under it as Harry's eyes fluttered close. He may have felt detached and blank but there was something inside of him that relaxed at the homely smells and sounds.

He was out before any of his roommates came up.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **I may have borrowed the song, but I tweaked it a bit. I adjusted the Hufflepuff verses because I didn't like the 'Hufflepuff took the rest' part. Equal rights for Hufflepuffs! Just FYI, I'm a Ravenclaw ;)…**


	18. Running and Umbridge

**Just got back from a family reunion- my cousins are crazy! We taught this little girl who I think is my second cousin (?) how to dab. Now she won't stop and her mum didn't look to happy. There was cake.**

 **I'm feeling very hormonal and I'm really not sure why I am crying. Periods, man. Jeez.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 18

Harry awoke slowly, as light filtered through the red velvet curtains on his bed. He shook his hair out of his face- he needed a haircut. It was just around the bottom of his ears, and it tickled. Harry sat up, stretching his awkwardly bent limbs. He had fallen asleep in a weird position. He swept the curtains apart slightly and peered out. Everyone was still fast asleep, Ron's snores vibrating his four poster bed. Harry placed a tentative foot on the floor and grabbed his clothes.

It was Saturday, so luckily they didn't have classes until Monday. They had 2 days to get used to the Hogwarts routine. Harry checked the time with a silent Tempus spell once he was in the bathroom. He and Sirius had been working on silent spells, and he had been doing okay on the minor spells so far. Stuff like Lumos and Accio.

It was 5:40am. No one was ever up before 6:30, and breakfast was served from 7:00 until 8:00. Harry effectively had 50 minutes to do whatever he wanted, undisturbed. He decided to go for a run. Pulling on some green tracksuit bottoms and a baggy white top, Harry snuck out of Gryffindor tower and down into the main staircases. It was strangely quiet; only the gentle scraping as the stone staircases changed could be heard. Harry reached the bottom and headed out into the courtyard. He went right and was soon on the side of the lake. Harry listened to the serene lapping of the water and set off at a reasonable jog. He was in-between the lake edge and the edge of the forest. He felt that this was a private place, and made note to come back here just to relax.

Once there were no longer any more trees on his right side, just grass, he broke into a run. His lungs were jerking and his heart was pounding. It made him feel alive. Practically hearing his heartbeat in his ears, Harry put on an extra burst of speed. It was exhilarating. He jumped over a gap where the lake was trying to expand and landed with a thump, still sprinting.

After a while, he had run around the entire lake. His breaths were ragged and his chest was ripping itself out of his body. He dropped heavily into a sitting position, then laid down, and checked the time. It was quarter to seven. Harry's eyes widened- he had been running for around an hour! Sweat was dripping off his chin, and he stayed there until his heart rate evened out. He had caught the last of the sunrise whilst running, and now the sun was up for anyone to see. Harry felt odd, like he was annoyed the sun had come up. He was perfectly happy on his own, just running. He didn't want anything to disturb him.

And yet, he could see some people in the Courtyard in the distance. People who had been awake from 6:30, who didn't even know he was there. Harry sat up. His legs stretched painfully- no, tiredly. Harry knew what they were like when they were in pain. A brief memory floated into his head and Harry scrambled to his feet and walked determinedly away, as if leaving the thoughts there. He snuck past the early risers and into Gryffindor tower. The stairs had been annoying to climb, and he fell onto his bed. Everyone was still asleep, of course, no one in his dorm was an early riser. Hermione was, but she tended to sit on her bed and read until everyone else was awake. Harry thought about going back to sleep but eventually dragged himself into the bathroom to have a shower and change into his casual clothes, some jeans and a jumper. For obvious reasons, he wasn't going to change in front of his roommates. He wouldn't even change in front of the mirror.

He grabbed his wand when he was done, and cast a quick glamour over any visible scars. Glamours were quite advanced, around sixth year, but Harry had learnt them early. He had researched them in second year when everyone had turned on him. He had wanted to change his appearance so he could walk the halls without being hissed at. It had taken him the entire year and around half of his third, but he had eventually mastered it. He could cast many glamours now, as his skill had developed. Harry nodded at his lack of scars and considered hiding his 'famous' one, but threw the thought aside. It would be too suspicious.

Hearing movement on the other side of the door, Harry walked out. Plastering a fake smile on his face, he greeted Ron. Ron was yawning widely and looked like a hippo. He sat on his bed and read up on his Arithmancy, while Ron got ready. He was on the second book- it was fascinating! Runes was a little harder and confusing but Harry had nearly finished the first book. He was just turning a page to start a chapter on spell properties when Ron finished. Harry threw the book onto his trunk and together they walked into the common room. There were a lot more people in there now. When Harry had walked out and in, there had been no one.

They found Hermione, who was reading something on Ancient Runes, and made their way to the great hall.

Grabbing their usual seats, they watched the gentle stream of students trickle in. Harry nibbled on a piece of toast. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, who had asked her something Harry had missed.

"No, Ronald, you cannot borrow my homework. I told you to do it day's ago." she scolded.

"But 'mione I was distracted, can I just have a peek at the start of your potions essay please?" Ron pleaded.

Hermione glared at him, but pulled out a long essay all the same. No matter how annoyed she would get at Ron's laziness, she always liked the comments he would make.

"Hermione, what does this even mean? You're brilliant, I swear."

Ron hastily copied down what he called 'notes' (but was basically the entire thing word for word), complimenting Hermione the whole time. She had gone pink at the cheeks. Harry read what she had wrote over Ron's shoulder, and nodded to himself. That was about the same as what he had put. He had done his homework during the holidays as an escape from the nightmares, tiring himself out so they wouldn't come. They had, of course, but that's what the silencing charm was for.

The rest of the day passed slowly, mainly Ron finishing off his homework whilst Harry and Hermione read.

Sunday was the same- Harry went for a run, hung out with his friends and read. Ron was still doing his homework and eventually finished it all, claiming he had left it to the last minute on purpose because just how easy was that?

Monday morning soon rolled around, and Harry found himself waking up even earlier- at 5:00 on the dot. He had run round the lake even faster, he knew he was building up his leg muscles. He needed his morning runs-they were very therapeutic.

They were sat at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast, when McGonagall came round with their planners. Harry's hair was still wet from his after run shower, and it dripped on the plastic cover. Ron groaned out loud when he read his.

"First day of the year, listen to this: Double Potions, History of magic, Divination then double DADA. Bloody awful." he grumbled, stabbing his egg with a squelch.

Harry reviewed his planner; it was exactly the same, except he had Arithmancy instead of Divination. Dumbledore must have changed his electives. Sending a mental thanks to his headmaster, Harry drank the rest of his juice and they set off to potions early. No reason to let Snape give them detentions for being late on the first day.

They lined up along the dark wall in the dripping dungeons, each non-Slytherin student going over facts in their heads desperately. Snape was never in a good mood at the start of the year. Or the end. Or the middle. Basically just have all the facts in your head all year. It was a mildly good learning technique, if most weren't so scared of the teacher.

Severus Snape strode past his students with a cold glare at anyone who looked at him. His black robes bellowed around him, and everyone took a seat quickly. When Snape turned around, his onyx eyes were cold.

"This is fifth year potions. You will be taking your OWLs this year and I severely doubt that some of you will pass."

At this, he cast his stare over Neville, Ron and Harry and smirked. Harry heard Draco Malfoy snicker and he rolled his eyes. Snape continued, looking slightly angry at the lack of reaction

"You will make a bruise balm. Ingredients are in your books and you should finish by the end of the lesson. Go."

He swept to his desk as there was a flurry of movement towards the potion cabinet. Harry stepped to the side as Malfoy tried to shoulder barge him. Malfoy lost his balance and fell to the cold floor. Everyone stopped and a few people chuckled. Malfoy flushed as Snape descended, greasy strands of hair falling forwards. Snape surveyed the scene with an icy glare.

"10 points from Gryffindor, Potter."

He snarled. There was instant uproar from the protesting Gryffindors. Snape silenced them and pointed to the clock.

"You have one hour and 52 minutes left. Better hurry."

Everyone jolted back into action, many complaining quietly. Harry's face was deadpan, ruining Malfoy's triumphant smirk. He slunk away and Harry gathered his ingredients silently. He made no protests against Snape- he knew how it worked by now, and Snape's attitude would never change. He would always see him as his father when, in actual fact, Harry was more like his mother.

The end of the lesson drew closer and Harry was mildly happy to see that his potion was working will. It was a dull grey blue, and was gaining thickness rapidly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some movement. He turned around slightly, only to see something shoot towards him, aimed straight towards his perfect potion. Instincts roared to life and Harry snatched it deftly out of the air. Easier than catching a knife. A stilted silence appeared and the Slytherins looked annoyed, and slightly impressed. The Gryffindors just looked shocked and Ron patted harry on the back in congratulations. Harry lowered what had turned out to be a root to the table. Had it landed into it's designated target, the results would have been bad. Harry couldn't find it within him to care- what were a few more scars? Harry felt dead inside and it was actually starting to worry him slightly. What had happened to him? Harry scooped his balm into the pots given and scratched his name on the labels. Snape gave him a calculating glare when he handed it in.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they escaped the dank dungeons. 2 hours with Snape was just too many. They trudged to History of Magic. They all sat down and Professor Binns, the forgetful ghost, started a long speech about the conflict between goblins in 1384. Harry tried to pay attention, but Ron's snores and Binn's droning led him into a dreamy state. He stared out of the window and pictured himself running or playing quidditch...

Hermione snapping a book on the table in front of him brought Harry back. He forcefully nudged Ron, who awoke with a tired groan. It was time for lunch. They ate quickly, each reading up on the next subject. Ron moaned as he read, about how none of it made sense. He had Divination next, which he complained about all the way until they split up. He went up to the tower, and Hermione lead Harry to the Arithmancy classrooms.

The class was cool, with many windows open. The walls were a light blue, and there were many pieces of lined white paper scattered about. Professor Vector was in the middle, leaning on a desk explaining something to Lisa Turpin, a brunette Ravenclaw. Harry walked over to the Professor and she greeted him warmly.

"Harry! Please, take a seat. I've put a little quiz together for the entire class; I was really hoping that you would join!"

Harry smiled awkwardly. Professor Vector was a mildly attractive witch in her early forties, with blonde hair in a plait and serious grey eyes. She gestured to the seat beside Hermione and Harry sat down. Hermione smiled encouragingly at him and he relaxed slightly.

Professor Vector made her way to the front of the class and pulled out some paper.

"Class, I've got a few questions. You know the drill- 5 points to your house if you get it right. So... Question 1: how many components are in a spell wand motion?"

Harry knew this- it was five. Speed, direction, shapes, points and flourish. All around him, hands flew up, along with his own. The Professor smiled at him then picked Ernie Macmillan and he answered correctly, though a little pompously.

"Excellent, well, question 2- name the spell of which the intent is to bind and the meaning behind the spell name."

Harry had to think about that for a second before it hit him. It was the incarcerous spell and the spell name was associated with the word 'incarcerated' which helped the user focus on the intent. He raised his hand along with a few others, though not as many as before. Hermione shot him an approving glance. She was picked and gave the answer word for word from the text book, earning Gryffindor 5 points, half of what Harry had been robbed of in potions.

The Professor gave a few more questions, most Harry knew and 2 he didn't. She came to the last question and shot them all a challenging look.

"Okay, this may be a challenge, but I want you to have a go. Question 10- what spell makes a guardian appear, has effects similar to the cheering charm, and what is the motive behind it."

Everyone cast looks around- it looked like no one knew. Harry slowly raised a hand and everyone looked at him. Professor Vector looked surprised and knowing at the same time, and nodded at him.

"Harry?"

"The spell is the Patronus Charm and the motive is a really happy memory or feeling that inspires the guardian. If it's strong enough, it can take a form and become 'corporeal'." Harry knew he sounded just like Hermione and dreaded to think what Ron would have said.

The students looked mildly shocked; Hermione looked proud. Professor Vector nodded enthusiastically at him.

"Correct. 5 points for answering the question and another 5 because it was a difficult question." She hopped off the desk and rummaged around in a drawer. She pulled out some sheets of paper and spelled them to be delivered to each student.

"This is your homework, it's due in two lessons time. Please do as much as you can. Off you go to your next class!"

Hermione pulled him into a hug as they piled out into the corridor. He tensed and restrained himself from pushing her away.

"Harry, you did great. You really knew what we were doing. I can't believe you caught up that quickly. I think you're going to be really good at this subject."

Harry blushed at the praise and made a non-committal noise. Hermione put away her homework carefully then they ambled slowly to the DADA corridor on the third floor. They discussed the new teacher all the way and when they arrived, they had some notions about what she would be like.

Ron caught up with them, muttering about 'old bats', and they walked in together. They picked the seats in the middle, and waited as the rest of the class arrived. At the front of the class there was a blackboard with the words 'Defense Against The Dark Arts; A Return To Basic Principals'. Harry narrowed his eyes- this didn't sound good. Professor Umbridge was already sat at the teacher's table, sporting an even more lurid pink cardigan and the black bow that reminded Harry of a fly floating above a toad's head. Once everyone was seated, she rose, beaming widely at them like a hungry cat.

"Welcome, good afternoon!" She said, in a tone you would address a four year old with.

No-one said anything, a few people twitched their mouths in an indulging smile, and the room was silent. She tutted loudly.

"Let's try that again, I said _good afternoon_!"

"Good afternoon!" The class chorused like primary school students. Harry raised an eyebrow. He could already tell she was an awful teacher- she had no idea what she was doing. He sighed quietly. It looked like he would have to self-study again this year. Professor Umbridge's eyes flickered towards him and Harry saw something flash deep inside her. She quickly replastered her sickly smile and proceeded to ask them to take out their books. Harry retrieved his blankly. He had already read the entire thing. If he had just been told that the worst Dark Lord of all time had risen and he needed to teach an OWL year, this would definitely not be a book he would have even glanced at. It was absolute rubbish, filled with nothing but Ministry regulations and pointless advice. Nothing that would help in a battle.

"Class, please read the first chapter. Wands away and there will be no need to talk."

The class shared disappointed looks and pocketed their hopefully ready wands. Harry scanned the course aims on the board. Ministry-approved drivel. He opened his book and stared blankly at the first page. He knew this all practically off by heart, so there was no use re-reading it. Hermione did the same whereas Ron was reading it for the first time, with a growing look of horror and boredom.

After around 20 minutes, a stubby hand with ugly rings smacked down on the side of Harry's desk. He raised his eyes, barely concealing the flinch his hand made to his forearm, where his knife was holstered underneath the robe sleeve. Umbridge smiled down at him, and the class watched in confusion.

"Mr. Potter, you have been staring at that page for twenty minutes. Do I need to get someone to read it to you?" A few people sniggered and Harry responded with a deadpan face:

"I've read it already."

A look of happy disbelief rolled across her toad-like face. "Really?" She laughed. "Then you won't have any trouble telling me what the correct procedure for an unexpected attack, hmm?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "The Ministry says that when you are 'randomly attacked' you should lock the doors and wait for a ministry official to help." Umbridge narrowed her eyes then started to walk away. "Which is absolute rubbish, of course." Harry muttered to Ron, who nodded. Umbridge turned around, looking vaguely victorious.

"Did you just criticize Ministry proceedings, Potter? That will be a detention, I think."

Harry snorted sarcastically and said nothing. Professor Umbridge slammed her hands down in front of him. He met her glare with an amused smirk.

"Of course, Potter knows better than the ministry, doesn't he? Even likes to spread his own nasty rumours around…"

Harry stopped acting cocky at this point and his eyes darkened. "So uh 'Professor'" He said, making sure to emphasize the word 'professor' which made her face go slightly red, "How would the Ministry explain Cedric Diggory's death?"

At this, a few people looked up, interested. Professor Umbridge took note of all the faces staring expectantly at her and drew herself up to an unimpressive full height. "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"No, really, how is the Ministry writing his cause of death as?" Harry replied, his eyes gone stony. Professor Umbridge shivered slightly- those eyes looked as if they had seen something and she hated the haunted look in them.

"It is none of your business, Pot-"

Harry cut her off with an icy tone that made no mistake in showing how angry he was. "Because he was hit with the killing curse. No wounds or traces of potions. Just dead. How are you explaining that and why do you refuse to believe the cold hard truth that Voldemort is-"

"Enough!" Umbridge shouted.

"-back!" Harry finished with a furious glare.

Umbridge pulled out a piece of pink paper and scribbled a note on it. The class was in a bated silence while some people thought about what Harry had said. She stuck it out ungraciously to Harry who reluctantly took it.

"Off to Professor McGonagall, I think, Potter. Take your things."

Harry chuckled darkly and snatched up his bag. Hermione sent him a stern but worried glance. Ron just looked proudly amazed. The class watched as Harry walked calmly out and down the corridor.

However as soon as the door shut, Harry deflated slightly. He hadn't meant to lose his temper like that but that- that woman reminded him so much of Lucius Malfoy and Nott and a whole host of other death eaters… he couldn't resist. It brought back memories of the Manor. Only now he could say whatever he wanted- what could they possibly do to him that was as bad as what had already been done? Harry turned a corner, his pulse going back to it's usual sluggish thumps. Whenever he fought, or felt angry his pulse just shot up. It made him feel so much better; it made him feel like maybe he wasn't so damaged on the inside. It was controlled.

He knocked rhythmically on the door to Professor McGonagall's office. She opened the door promptly. He gave her the note. She read it, glared at him then sighed. She gestured him inside, looking both exasperated and mildly proud.

In short, he had a week of detention, wasn't to cross Umbridge again and needed to keep his temper under control. Harry explained this to his friends at dinner. Hermione agreed with McGonagall while Ron had just told him what he did was bloody brilliant. Harry grinned slightly at them before toying around with his food.

It had been a long first day back.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Ughhh….. I swear I'll do something about the daily prophet in the next chapter. Also, got a new idea that may take this story down a darker path. Just beware and if you don't like it, I'll remove it. It won't be anything to drastic, just maybs a lil self harm. I mean c'mon Harry is drowning in depression! Someone'll notice tho, and I can bet you'll guess who…**


	19. Detentions and Newspapers

**Now playing: Rita Skeeter getting things wrong f.t. Harry angst! Bad language at the end BTW, so no kiddies.  
**

 **Best thing ever. P.s. Shall I kill off a certain character? I won't tell you who, but I feel like I should. It will be emotional- yeah, I probably will.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 19 

Green light, _blood,_ floor _, chains_ , cackles, laughs, _blood_ \- Harry shot upright, breathing heavily. He had a vague suspicion he had been screaming, and thanked Merlin for the silencing charms he had put up. Knowing he was not going to rest anymore, and quite frankly not wanting to, Harry went out for his increasingly longer morning run to clear his tortured mind of the unspeakable memories. It was getting to be a new routine.

His classes were interesting, mainly due to the fact that he did not have Snape or that Umbridge woman. He didn't think that he could dislike a teacher more than Snape but now Harry wasn't too sure. His first detention was tonight at 7, luckily just after Quidditch trials which started at 5, just before dinner. He would have to skip dinner, but couldn't really care. He winced to think what Angelina would have done if the two events coincided. So, after he finished school for the day, he headed hurriedly to the Quidditch stadium.

Ron was there, already changed. He was shifting nervously from foot to foot, and looked like he did in second year when he was throwing up slugs. Harry nodded at him in a reassuring way then quickly got changed in the toilets. He emerged in his red and gold seeker uniform, Firebolt in hand. By the time he was out, the entire team was there; all the new candidates were outside. Angelina took a breath before starting a speech.

"Out there are our new possible teammates. We are looking for one chaser, one keeper, and a whole lot of reserves. What with our seeker constantly injuring himself and everything."

She sent him a sisterly glare and he quickly smiled sheepishly. The twins laughed. Angelina continued:

"I know that some of you are related to the people out there. But that does not get them on the team, y'hear? I want talent and the ability to work in a team. Now get out there, make friends and find me another Quidditch sensation!" She nodded at Harry and they all cheered.

The tryouts were easy enough. For Ron and the rest of the keepers, he had all the current team lob Quaffles at him. Harry thought he did decent enough- he only missed one and that was Angelina's. It was nearly impossible to block her shots- their entire team was very talented. Harry could see the pressure that could put on any newbies. One student- Cormac McLaggen- was good enough, but after hearing him brag smugly about his Nimbus 2001 broom being a 'top of the line' (Harry looked at his Firebolt and smirked), the team quickly ruled him out. They had no time for whiners and posers. Harry sent a thumbs up to Ron, as did Fred and George, and he grinned widely.

Next came the one chaser position. Katie hovered in front of the hoops at one end. She was a good reserve keeper, but was much better as a chaser. Harry was at the other. He wasn't the best keeper but just kept trying to imagine himself as a football goalie, which helped.

It was stunningly obvious who would be the new chaser. A fourth year was pretty good, she got in 7 out of 10 goals; a third year surprised them all by getting in 6 out of 10. Then _Ginny_ came up. She hovered on her broom, her hair tied back in a flicking fiery ponytail, and received the starting pass from Angelina. It was amazing- she shot off, span, dodged a bludger, scored, and then repeated it differently 10 times. She got all 10 out of 10 goals in. Harry admitted that one of the goals she scored against him may have been because of the fact he was distracted. He had just noticed that her deep brown eyes got this competitive spark and a mischievous smile appeared whenever she played. Then she had barrelled past him, throwing the Quaffle so fast all Harry saw was a blur as he lunged. Ginny winked at him as he flew down to collect the ball.

They then had the reserve trials, no-one really standing out that much. Harry's reserve that he had chosen was a girl with insanely curly hair called Chloe. She was good enough, but had trouble keeping her balance. They would train her up in no time though.

Around 6:30, Angelina flew down and gestured them all to join her. After a quick team discussion of which everyone agreed, Angelina turned round, beaming happily.

"Alright! Well done to everyone, it takes confidence to try out. We have all agreed that the chaser can be no other than Ginny Weasley, because damn girl, where did you learn to fly like that?"

Ginny smiled and blushed to the roots of her gorgeous windswept burnt golden… Harry shook his head slightly. Hair. She blushed to the roots of her hair.

"With 6 brothers, you always need another player. I was always the spare chaser- they just didn't seem to realise that whichever team I was on won." She said this confidently, sending grins over at Fred, George and Ron, who looked very proud of their baby sister.

Angelina grinned and announced the last main position. "The keeper will be, loath as I am to admit it, another Weasley! Well done Ron, you were the best keeper that tried out. Now all Katie, Harry and I need to do is dye our hair ginger…" She muttered in an amused tone as Ron jumped about, whooping. He grinned at Harry who grinned straight back, feeling happier than he had in a few days. He knew Ron had some self-esteem issues, and he hoped this would boost him up a lot. If only he could get together with Hermione…

The rest of them all announced the reserves- the girl Chloe looked very happy and ran to hug her friend in the stands. The rest all looked very intimidated; the current team was probably the best it had been in years. There was a lot to live up to.

Harry checked his watch again and shouted a bye to his teammates. He had detention in 20 minutes, it was 6:40. He rushed up to the tower and quickly got changed into his uniform. Re-applying his glamours, he started to wander towards the office. He had misjudged how much time he would have and there was no way he was going to be early to detention. He was meandering around the seventh floor with 15 minutes until his 'appointment', feeling like he wanted to run, when he saw something he didn't really believe.

A door appeared out of nowhere. Just engraved itself into the wall and stuck out. Harry cast a few security charms then warily opened the door. Inside, there was a running track, in a room the size of the great hall. Harry stared in shock then furrowed his eyebrows- wasn't there something in 'Hogwarts: A History' about this room? He explored for a few minutes before reluctantly heading to the hag's office.

He knocked on the door, a minute past 7. It was opened immediately, Professor Umbridge smiling viciously at him. He tensed and walked in, ready to run at any minute. He recognised that look. She gestured to a desk ad he sat, his heart rate thumping in anticipation. She handed him a sharp red quill.

"As punishment, you'll be writing some lines Mr Potter. And seeing as you were late, I think that will be another detention on top of your week's worth."

Harry considered laughing at her pettiness. Lines? Seriously? And another detention? He smirked slightly and searched the desk.

"You haven't given me any ink, _Professor."_ Harry said, imitating her condescending tone perfectly.

Her smile was replaced with a baring of teeth and she practically spat at him, sneering.

"Oh, you won't need any. You will write 'I must not tell lies', for as long as I tell you to. Go."

Harry rolled his eyes but inwardly felt very confused. Was something going on here he did not know? He pressed the tip of the quill to the page and scratched out his first line.

 _I must not tell lies._

The ink was a dark thick red and Harry felt the whole moment was very anticlimactic. Then a burning familiar pain rippled across Harry's hand. He turned it over and watched as the exact words he had just written engraved themselves onto the back of his hand. Blood bubbled up to the surface and Harry looked at it blankly. So this was happening. He considered throwing the quill away and cursing her until she couldn't breathe (walk- until she couldn't walk. Dammit, no more killing) but she was put here by the minister. If there was one thing Harry did not need, it was more enemies. Instead of looking at her toady face which he knew would be bursting with a triumphant smile, he shrugged and carried on. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Umbridge's sadistic smirk fall away and be replaced by one of anger. He grinned to himself darkly and continued mutilating his own hand. It was barely a sting; Harry had been subjected to much worse than this.

 _I must not tell lies._

He remembered Barty Crouch Junior coming into his cell in the second week, when Harry still had hope of being rescued. Harry was on the floor, held to the wall only by slightly bloody manacles. He had chuckled victoriously and withdrawn a knife the size of Harry's hand. Then carved. Again and again, as if Harry's body was some sick canvas. Harry had thrashed in pain, screaming through clenched teeth as rivulets of blood had dribbled rapidly down his sides. He had sliced a dark mark into Harry's arm with vigour, wrote the word Mudblood deeply into Harry's lower stomach, pinning the boy with his knees as he hacked away, sending agonizing pain through his body with every dig.

So Umbridge's little 'scare tactic' was about as effective as being bitten by a mosquito.

 _I must not tell lies._

 _I must not tell lies._

 _I must not tell lies._

 _I must not tell lies._

 _I must not tell lies._

Darkness fell outside as blood wiggled down Harry's wrist. Harry's face was neutral, showing no pain. At one point he had begun to whistle exuberantly, only to have a seriously pissed off Umbridge scream at him. Humour was present in his eyes; to Harry, this whole thing was very funny. Only when he could not see anything past the black of the night sky, did Umbridge smack an ugly hand down on his table. Harry leant back in his chair cockily, twirling the quill in his hand. She scanned his page- he had written that goddamn line around 500 times. She glared at him and snatched the quill out of his hand.

"I think the message needs to _sink in_ more Potter. Again, same time, tomorrow. And wipe that look of your face!"

She snapped, annoyed at the lack of response and almost-casual way Harry dealt with the situation. She flicked her wrist, a dismissal to the smirking boy before her. The look on his face was dangerous- for the first time since arriving, she was a little afraid of the Boy-Who-Lived. This was not what she was expecting; she was expecting a boy who would gasp at the pain, look at her with soulful eyes, hiss at the sting and just look generally hurt.

This Potter seemed to not even notice it, in fact- it looked like he even enjoyed it. He had the appearance of a carefree Slytherin who could kill you at any time. He reminded her of, though she hated to make the comparison, the Dark Lord before he was defeated in 1981. Because he was not back. Not back whatsoever. The boy was attention seeking and a filthy liar. He got up to leave, but paused at the doorway. He turned round.

"What will you do with that parchment?"

She looked confused. "I will keep it. It will be a reminder for you to not tell lies."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. The last time someone took my blood, it was to bring Voldemort a new body. You will destroy it." His voice was cold and commanding, all traces of cockiness gone. She debated whether to be petty but there was something in his tone that made her shiver…

Umbridge drew out the paper and burnt it whilst Harry watched. He nodded when it was done, satisfied, and then left without a word. Harry cast a quick tempus and was shocked to see it was past midnight- it was 20 to 1am. Harry cast a disillusionment spell over himself, something he had practised endlessly in the last few days of summer. He was not very good at holding it up for long so, after applying a silencing charm to himself, he sprinted back up to his dorm before it could wear off.

Ron was flat out, filling the room with snores. The position he was in suggested he had tried to wait for Harry but Morpheus had claimed him to soon. Harry slid into the bathroom and washed his throbbing hand under some cold water, turning it an intense red. When the water ran clear, he muttered a healing spell and the wounds closed. There was a faint red outline, but no open cut. For some reason, Harry wished he hadn't healed it. He debated opening it back up, but shook his head in astonishment. What was he thinking?

Harry wandered back into the main room, ready to go to bed, when something caught his eye. Underneath Neville's bed was a Daily Prophet. Harry picked it up quickly- he had meant to grab one but never got the chance. He flicked through it to find the front page; it was from a few days ago so it was a bit out of order. Once he found it, Harry realised his name was on the front page and he read it thoroughly, getting angrier by the second.

 _More lies spread by the Boy-Who-Lived!_

 _By Rita Skeeter_

 _For the last few months, we have been hearing ridiculous stories, and they all seem very focused on one boy- Harry Potter. Ever since little baby Harry Potter saved us all on the 31_ _st_ _October 1981, he has been famous. Perhaps the fame has gone a little too much to this delirious boy's head? We have heard crazy stories about Harry Potter's years at Hogwarts, but the tale from his fourth year pushes all limits. Somehow, against all odds, Harry Potter entered the Triwizard Tournament. We all love an underdog, but this was too far._

 _After the third task where a fellow competitor sadly died, Harry Potter has been spouting nonsense about the Dark Lord, he-who-must-not-be-named, returning. He claims to have seen the entire rebirth and that the tragic war hero, Peter Pettigrew, long deceased, killed the other Hogwarts Champion. Has he lost his mind? Or has the attention seeking got the better of him?_

 _He somehow convinced Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster and supreme Mugwump, that his lies were truth. And then, out of nowhere, Harry Potter disappears! His friends claim he was kidnapped by you-know-who, and that death eaters murdered his last living relatives, who were killed in a car accident in late June. Bit far fetched if you ask me, my loyal readers!_

 _For it seems Mr Potter is perfectly healthy! In fact, he was seen shopping in Diagon Alley a few days ago! Not harmed in the slightest and seemingly enjoying himself with his friends. After accusations were thrown at well-known members of our establishment, it seems Harry Potter's insane ravings have gone too far. He told the Minister of Magic himself that Lucius Malfoy, a highly well thought of aristocrat who donates regularly to St Mungos, had tortured him along with Bellatrix Lestrange, who is still in Azkaban, and Barty Crouch Junior, who died in Azkaban._

 _Who can stop the Boy-Who-Lived before he turns into the Boy-Who-Went-Mad?_

 _More on this story next week, my lovely readers!_

If Harry could shoot fire with his eyes, -well, that would make the Prophecy a whole lot easier- the newspaper would be a fiery rag by now. How dare they! He was not attention seeking! He just wanted to be left alone! He was not 'perfectly healthy'! He had fucking words engraved in his skin and brutality scars that were dug deeply into nearly every section of skin he had! He was not insane! He… Harry thought back to those skeletal horses and twitched his nose. Well, he hoped he was sane. There were still those little thoughts in the back of his mind though, telling him to kill every last death eater, to run away, to hurt himself…

No. He had a hold of everything. He was dealing with what happened. He was fine. Fine.

Ron turned over in his sleep and woke up slightly.

"Harry, y'kay?" He slurred sleepily before resuming his snoring.

Harry stared at his snoring friend and nodded vigorously.

"I'm fine." He whispered forcefully to Ron's sleeping form.

"Just fine."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **He is not- what a liar! My big sis is moving out so I get her room! I'm thinking blue, purple and white?**

 **Stay tuned for more angsty conflicted confused guilty grieving suicidal worrying romantic powerful proactive awesome abused angry scary traumatised evil random badass Harry!**

' **One person couldn't feel all that, they'd explode!'**

' **Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon…'**


	20. Cuts and Practises

**Ugh, I listened to that OneRepublic song again and now it won't go, but it's soooo good and it really helps me write.**

 **Warning- self-harm and depressing thoughts**

 **UPDATE- yeah, I changed the name but a helpful reader gave me some tips. I'm going on HOLIDAY for 10 DAYS so I probs won't be able to update, OK?**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 20

Harry couldn't take do this anymore. He constantly felt like people were watching him. Eyes on him, people touching him, he just wanted to scream, tug his hair out by the roots until it was all off him, until everything was coming off him, all the blood, all the lies, all the filth. He breathed heavily and drew his shaky legs in closer to his pounding chest. He was in an alcove, in an abandoned corridor. He couldn't exactly remember what happened for him to get here and it scared him. So, so, much.

 _Earlier…_

Ron grinned at Hermione as he shovelled breakfast into his mouth. When she read, a small crease appeared on her forehead. Ron liked it. She glanced up and raised an eyebrow at him, blushing slightly. The corners of his mouth twitched up and he hastily drank his pumpkin juice, choking slightly. Harry watched all this with a dry smirk; when would they realise?

Their lessons began in a few minutes, so, after waiting for Ron to finish, they walked towards the defence classrooms. They all grumbled- no-one wanted that woman again. Harry had kept what had happened in the detention a secret. He strangely wanted to keep it to himself, and besides, it wasn't that bad. Right? Harry kept second guessing himself. He glanced over his shoulder as he walked into the class- he was sure someone was following him.

The lesson was basically the same as the last one. They read chapter two and Harry unjustly received another detention. Many people were now considering if what Harry said was the truth. After the lesson, Seamus had come up to him and told Harry that he believed him. Harry felt slightly grateful. Seamus patted his shoulder, causing Harry to flinch, as he said:

"I'm gonna write to me mam as well. She'll understand. Good luck against the ministry Harry, they've got it out for you."

"Thanks Seamus."

Harry said, stepping back slightly. The next lesson was Charms, where they learnt silencing charms. Harry, who was already proficient at this, earned Gryffindor 10 points and an approving look from Hermione. Third and fourth period was Ancient Runes, broken up in the middle by lunch.

The ancient runes classroom was dark and had an earthy feel. The brown velvet curtains were drawn and a ball of golden light was hovering near the ceiling. Professor Babbling was a strict looking woman with dark brown hair and eyes. She had a stern expression that melted somewhat when Hermione came in. She was obviously a favourite of hers. She welcomed Harry politely then launched into the lesson. They were learning about the defence runes, mainly Eihwaz. When engraved into a surface, it could repel hostile creatures and humans up to 20 feet away. Harry knew that this could be made into a ward if placed around something because he had seen this rune around the Burrow before.

He didn't entirely get everything, just the basics. Hermione was way better than him in this subject, he much preferred Arithmancy. The class was dismissed with a reminder of a two foot essay due in next lesson.

They met up with Ron in Transfiguration, who told them that he apparently 'had a wide aura'. Hermione snorted and Harry curled his lip. He was so glad he had dropped that class, it was useless. How could he kill Voldemort with divination? Throw a crystal ball at him? Harry sniggered humourlessly. Professor McGonagall gave them a very boring speech about the fact they were in their O.W.L year then started them on the Vanishing Spell ( _Evanesco_ ) which is a Transfiguration spell used to vanish both animate and inanimate objects "into non-being, which is to say, everything". Harry could vividly remember Snape vanishing his potions with ease, which helped him use the spell. By the end of the lesson, he had vanished his snail's shell, along with Hermione. Ron had turned his purple and caused bubbles to appear out of it's slime.

Professor McGonagall sent Ron a disapproving glare and reversed it with a flick of her wand. He smiled sheepishly. As they left, Professor McGonagall called Harry aside for a second.

"Yeah, Professor?" Harry asked, confused.

"I heard that you received another detention from Professor Umbridge, Potter. Care to explain?"

Harry protested immediately. "I didn't even do anything wrong. She gave me the detention for distracting Ron because she thought I was talking. Even thought the classroom was completely silent!"

Professor McGonagall regarded him for a minute before nodding. "I will talk to Albus. I've had enough of that woman and she's only been here for a few days."

Harry grinned at his professor and she smiled in return.

"It's good to see you back to full health, Potter. Now, off you go to… Potions, I believe."

Harry tensed at the reminder of the agonizing injuries he had received and only nodded in return. His friends were waiting at the door.

"What did she want Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Just asked about the detentions." Harry replied. Ron grimaced.

"What does she even have you do? You didn't tell us." He asked.

Harry didn't even miss a beat. "Lines." He said, trying to sound glum. Ron shrugged at him and said, as they walked into the dungeons:

"Well, it could be worse." Harry nodded again mutely. They sat in the middle of the gloomy chamber. Malfoy turned round and was about to say something when Snape stalked in. Malfoy scrunched his nose, annoyed, and went back to facing the front. Harry sighed quietly in relief- he really didn't think he could deal with a verbal spar with Hogwart's number one spoilt brat.

Snape surveyed them all distastefully. His sneer landed on Harry, and Harry had a feeling that the potion he was about to set would be difficult, as Harry had succeeded in his last potion. Snape could simply not be having him _succeed_ in his class now could he? Snape smirked before indicating the writing on the board.

"I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Today, you are making the Invigoration Draught, instructions are on the board, go."

Just as Harry had predicted, Snape could hardly have set them a more difficult, intricate potion. It had to be at a very specific heat lest the entire thing blow up, and it had to be simmering for a certain amount of time before adding the last finely-chopped ingredient. Harry picked up his African Dream root and placed it on his chopping board. slicing it into even chunks, he took the required amount and threw it into his cauldron.

"A dark blue vapour should now be rising from your potion." Called Snape, with 5 minutes left. Harry looked around; Hermione's was perfect, Ron's had a reddish smoke billowing out of it and Neville was frantically tapping his wooden stirrer against the table as it was on fire. His vapour was a bluey-purple, but Harry thought it would do.

It seemed that was not to be true. Snape stopped in front of his potion and curled his lip maliciously.

"Potter, what is this?" The Slytherins all looked up eagerly; this was the best part of potions for them- seeing Snape taunt Harry. Harry gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers on the knife he was holding.

"The Invigoration Draught."

"Tell me Potter, did you hear what I said? What colour is the smoke supposed to be?"

"Dark blue."

"And what colour is this?"

"Purple." Harry snapped. Order member or not, Harry would love to treat him like he had treated the rest of the death eaters. In other words, the knife strapped to his arm was very tempting, as was the sharp potions knife in his hand.

"Potter, are you colour blind?" Snape drawled.

Draco Malfoy laughed. Harry breathed out through his nose heavily and gave Snape his best 'Does it look like I care?' look. Snape glared at him and waved his wand over Harry's potion.

"Evanesco. Looks like you got the first zero of the year Potter. Well done."

Harry stared blankly at the sneering man, with eyes like ice. He packed away silently, his friends casting him sympathetic glances, and, when Snape's back was turned, slipped out of the door. He only had around a minute of the lesson left, and he didn't know if he could control himself from slicing the man's neck open. He turned a corner into an empty corridor. It looked like no-one had been down there for a while. Harry let his mask fall and slid into one of the alcoves. It was dusty and dark and perfect for what Harry needed.

He threw his arms down as he sat and his knife flew out of the holster, landing with a clatter on the stone floor. Harry picked it up and leant back on the cold wall. Everything was just building up in his mind, only being stopped by a very weak dam Harry had constructed during those endless nights in that haunting cell. When he had had nothing but the thick metallic scent of his own blood and waste and the constant ripping pain to keep him company. He twirled the knife absently in his scarred fingers.

He breathed heavily and drew his shaky legs in closer to his pounding chest. How could they expect him to defeat the most evil, most sadistic and destructive Dark Lord the world had ever seen when they wouldn't give him a fricking break and leave him alone? He was just 15 years old, a damaged and scared orphan. Traitorous moisture filled Harry's eyes but he blinked it away furiously. He had learnt a long time ago that crying did nothing.

The knife came down in Harry's anger and he pressed it into his hand.

It scored a shallow line into Harry's palm instantly. Harry's eyes shot to it. He stared at it numbly. It stung slightly and made Harry aware of everything around him. It was different. Not like the lines Bella or Barty would draw. Not even like a paper cut.

Harry pressed again. His hand felt bruised around the knife and the line went red, until blood trickled out of the bottom. A sick kind of pleasure welled up, clearing his mind. He pressed a finger against the blood and smeared it around. Harry wondered how something so simple could hold so much emotion, both good and bad.

He rolled up his sleeve. His hand was too noticeable. He breathed for a second. No, he needed this. It was something more, a pain he could control. It was an outlet of all his pent up pain and frustration. He sliced the knife over his flesh with a trembling hand. The rush of endorphins swarmed his head and let a small smile play upon his lips. He lifted his arms. The underside of his left arm was actually scar free, a pale stretch of unmarked skin- unlike the other which had the dark mark scar on, a faded white tattoo. He turned back to his left arm. This was _his_ canvas. Another slice.

When Harry finally felt satisfied, he had 6 mildly deep cuts on his arm. He let his head fall back. He knew exactly what he was doing but didn't care. This was his. His pain. Something only he knew, something only he could control and could feel. No one else's. It reminded him when Padfoot caught his wrist in the train station. He hadn't known what the feeling was then, but now he knew. Casting a glamour over his arm and vanishing the blood, he wandered back to Gryffindor tower. His friends swamped him as he climbed through the portrait hole.

"Harry where have you been?" Hermione asked frantically.

"I took a walk" Harry said calmly. They wouldn't understand. He felt much better and could see that his friends were just trying to help. "I feel much better now." It was half true.

Hermione blinked then looked happier. "Oh, okay. Professor Snape was out of Order, Harry." Ron nodded as she continued. "Your potion was fine, I mean, you could have stirred with a bit more vigour but-"

She threw her arms round Harry, who flinched slightly. They didn't notice. "Hermione are you okay?" He asked, feeling concerned for one of his best friends.

"It's just good to see you in a much better mood." She said. Harry smiled- a true smile in a while- and patted her back.

"Wait, it's Wednesday? I have a session with Remus and Snuffles this evening. I've gotta go get changed." He patted her back once more before disentangling himself and heading up the stairs.

Hermione and Ron flopped on the sofa. Hermione was still smiling. She had noticed that Harry was not alright ever since he had come back. Who could blame him? She had seen the state he was in, heard his nightmares and knew that he wasn't dealing very well. He had a haunted look in his eyes that made her shiver. But to see him come through the portrait, after a stressful potions lesson he had stormed out of, looking more relaxed than he had in a while- she was just happy. He said he'd been on a walk, and walks clear heads. Maybe he'd dealt with everything?

Ron was also very relieved. He had caught his best mate staring into the mirror many times, looking very sad. He knew the scars were bothering him, and pretended not to notice when he put a glamour up. He had distracted him with chess games and quidditch talks and truly wanted to help. Nothing had got through, though Ginny got close. He could think of no-one better for his little sister. He felt thoroughly disgusted at the way he had abandoned Harry last year, when he needed him the most. After seeing Harry with all those injuries, he realised he had literally nothing to be jealous of. Sure, Harry had money. But he only had it because it was left to him by his dead parents. He had fame. But it was only because a psychopath couldn't kill him. If anything, Harry should be jealous of him. Ron realised sadly, that he probably was. He had made a vow in first year to make sure Harry felt like a Weasley, and he was going to live up to it. Harry seemed a lot happier now and he, Ron Weasley, was going to make sure he stayed that happy.

Harry took the stairs 2 at a time. He wanted to see Remus and Sirius so much- was this what it felt like to be homesick? He had certainly never missed the Dursleys. He waved a cheerful goodbye to his friends and set off to the room he had discovered earlier. It turns out it _was_ something important- it was the Room of Requirement. Harry had wanted to run, so it had given him a track.

Now, he was pacing in front of the wall, thinking over and over, _I need somewhere to train with Remus and Sirius, I need somewhere to train with Remus and Sirius, I need somewhere to train with Remus and Sirius._ On the third stride, the heavy wooden door materialised and Harry ducked in.

Remus and Sirius were already there, in a training room that was slightly smaller than the one back at number 12. It had a large duelling platform, some muggle exercise machines, some leather punch bags, bookcases, weapons, tables, and some beanbags in the corner. Harry grinned his approval and walked over to his family. Sirius hopped over to him quickly and enveloped him in one of his bear hugs. Harry hugged back tightly; he missed the comfort it brought. He hadn't really realised how comforting it was until now. Sirius pulled back and held his shoulders, looking him over.

"Merlin, I've missed you Harry. You're still at little pale but your putting more weight on which is good." He hugged him again then was elbowed aside by an amused Remus.

"You sound like Molly, Padfoot." Remus said, also embracing Harry. Sirius pulled a face but looked as if he was taking it as a compliment.

Once all the many hugs were over, Sirius steered Harry over to a table that had a couple books on it. He showed Harry a piece of paper with a lot of spells on it.

"These are all spells we're gonna teach you, pup. But first, how's Arithmancy and Ancient Runes?"

Harry launched into an explanation of his first lessons. "Arithmancy is easier than Ancient Runes and a lot more interesting. I was thinking of looking into the spell creation side of it."

Remus's eyes sparkled. "We invented a few spells in our time- mainly for pranking though. But we had a notepad where all the steps would be-I think I might have it somewhere. But let's start on, well, which do you want to do first Harry?"

Harry reviewed the spell list. Most were gray spells, a few light and a few dark thrown in. Harry's eyes kept flicking back to one.

"What about this one- a fire whip spell thing?"

Sirius smiled. That was one of his personal favourite spells and it meant a surprisingly large amount to him that Harry chose it. They started the practise after placing a few cushioning charms about the room.

At 7:50, Harry called the session to a stop. He had his detention at 8.

"Detention, already?" Sirius questioned, slightly proud.

"It's Umbridge; she has it out for me." Harry explained as Sirius's face dropped and the two adults got serious. They gave the same type of advice McGonagall had given him (stay away from her), only Sirius had suggested pranking her on the side. They finished by giving Harry some feedback on his casting. He had almost got the spell, he just needed to practise. They had also revised some other spells and Harry had quickly learned the helpful spells 'Expulso', which was 7th year material, 'Anteoculatia' which caused the victim's hair to turn into horns and 'Sagitta' which conjured a stream of arrows.

"The spell used to be used by Appleby Arrows supporters at Quidditch matches to show their support for their teams; but the Quidditch League banned the spell from matches when a referee got hit in the nose." Remus had said, sending Sirius into hysterics. Harry had laughed too, quite warmly. Those cuts were sticking to his sleeve and he found himself ripping the fabric away every now and then. It was an effective mood reliever.

Remus and Sirius hugged him goodbye, telling him they would meet again as soon as possible. Harry grinned and made his way to detention. The toad greeted him with her sickly grin and Harry gave her a dark smirk. She recoiled slightly and threw the quill at him.

"Same as last time Potter. I'll tell you when to stop."

It was after 1am when he stopped. Blood had been pouring down his wrist since midnight and he had nearly fallen asleep a few times. He waited until she had burned the paper again to leave. Muttering a few healing spells, and then repeating them again on his wrists, he headed back to the room of requirement. He needed to learn that spell because one day he was going to use it on that hag's throat. They were never going to learn anything from her and with Voldemort back, she had effectively sentenced all her students to death.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Things will pick up, I promise. I just wanted to write about the first few days. Please do not self harm, it's bad and you'll regret the scars!**

 **I practiced my fake crying today and forgot I had makeup on. I'm going to join KISS now.**


	21. Portraits and Necklaces

**My knee hurts.**

 **I'm back from Croatia! So tanned and so tired. There was a massive electrical storm on the last night and it gave me an idea for a fic. Might write it.**

 **Just FYI, this is going to be a trilogy under the name Not all Heroes wear Capes series. I think it would be way better, and I appreciate the support given.**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 21

September passed relatively quickly, the leaves in the forests turning a rich mahogany and the air getting slightly cooler. The October nights arrived sooner and it was common for students to forget this, as they ended up having to run back to the castle in darkness. Professor Umbridge was being increasingly hated by the day and there were regular complaints about her.

Harry was fine. Good. Coping. He threw himself into lessons and quidditch and training and spent lots of time with his friends.

Or at least that's what everyone thought.

In real life, Harry was miserable. He barely got any sleep before the horrific nightmares woke him in a pool of his own sweat, and now had glamours over the deep black bags under his eyes. His arm was slashed heavily from wrist to elbow. No one knew and Harry made sure it stayed that way. The only reason he was doing well in class was because he knew it all already. He put up a mask for his friends and family, since that was what Remus and Sirius were, and he knew he shouldn't. He knew something was wrong. But he couldn't find it in him to care.

It was only when they walked into the Great Hall for dinner that Harry realized it was Halloween. There were pumpkins enchanted to float around and the ghosts seemed to embrace the stereotype, floating around and scaring people. His life had been ruined fifteen years ago today. Blinking slightly, Harry slid onto the bench and pretended to eat. He was losing weight but he honestly just did not have any appetite lately.

Hermione shot him nervous glances. She knew what the date really meant to Harry. She was about to nudge Ron but Ron suddenly launched into a conversation about chocolate frogs with Harry. She beamed at the ginger- he was so intuitive sometimes and knew just what to say to get people's mind off things.

The Halloween main feast passed unremarkably and soon everyone was munching on puddings. A pang of pain shot through Harry's scar and he flinched imperceptibly. He subtly drew up a hand and rubbed it, the cool skin soothing the burning. Another pulse of pain had Harry withholding a gasp.

"Harry?"

Hermione asked, concerned. Harry had been rubbing his scar for a while now.

"It's nothing. I'm fine."

Harry responded, clenching his teeth.

He dropped the spoon he was holding in a shaky hand and it hit his plate with a clang. Ron and Ginny looked over and were immediately in guard. A flash of lightening ripped through the fake sky and the Hall doors were flung open. A silvery lynx Patronus glided in and quietly relayed a message to Dumbledore.

The headmaster rose quickly and addressed the hall.

"Prefects take your students back to your houses now. The head boy and girl are in charge. The rest of the teachers and I have got to go somewhere but we'll be back soon."

Everyone stood up. The pain in Harry's head reached a crescendo and he fell forwards, his head glancing off the table. Ginny was by his side in a heartbeat, helping him up.

The all knew what this meant- Voldemort was doing something. Hermione muttered something to Ron. Harry caught the words 'hospital wing'.

"No!" He exclaimed. "No hospital wing, I just need to sleep. Let's go to the common room."

Ron sent him a dubious look but helped him up all the same. He grasped Harry's arm and Harry groaned as he pressed his fingers into the deep cuts. He could feel a trickle of blood run down his arm. Luckily his friends mistook it for scar pain and didn't mention it.

Hermione went ahead, guiding the younger years while Ron and Ginny helped Harry. They lumbered up to the tower and plonked Harry on his bed. He rolled slightly and pressed a hand to his flaming scar. His friends exchanged panicked looks- they had never seen it this badly before, without Voldemort being near them. Hermione closed the drapes around Harry's bed and it cut off his groans effectively. Ron narrowed his eyes and muttered a 'Finite Incantatem'. At once, Harry's groans resumed audibly. Ginny shook her head.

"A silencing charm?" Ron whispered sadly. "I thought he said the nightmares had stopped."

Ginny glanced at the boy on the bed disapprovingly, and realized he had fallen unconscious. Her eyes widened and they rushed over.

"Rennervate!" Said Hermione desperately.

Harry groaned and rolled over, muttering a few words. He then sat up groggily.

"Harry, are you okay?" said Ginny.

He nodded then shook his head. A faint green tinge appeared on his pale cheeks and he bolted towards the dormitory bathroom. His retching filled the tense atmosphere. Ginny looked at the floor angrily. She hated it when Harry suffered.

Harry staggered out the door looking positively furious. Hermione raised her eyebrows and hesitantly took a step forwards, eyes wide. Harry brushed past her and sprinted down the stairs into the common room. People stared at him like he was mad. Harry reached the portrait and tried to leave. The fat lady shook her head.

"With the headmaster gone, all students must stay inside. That includes you, Mr. Potter."

"The headmaster's back." Harry snapped. He had seen him return in his vision. The fat lady frowned and went to go check, as Harry tapped the wall impatiently. When she returned, she shook her head.

"He may be back, but I don't want you leaving-"

Harry smacked the palm of his hand on the wall and the wooden frame cracked in a small release of magic. The portrait fell out backwards with a cry and Harry jumped over it before running to the headmaster's office.

Ron made to follow but Hermione held him back.

"Reparo." She stated shakily, and the painting flew back into place. The fat lady looked annoyed and slightly shocked.

"Well he could've just waited." She said huffily.

Hermione lead Ron and Ginny into a corner. The common room burst into conversation, many staring wide-eyed at the door. No doubt the grape vine of Hogwarts gossip would hear all about this.

"I can't believe Harry just broke the portrait." She hissed. Ron nodded.

"Yeah, but she should have let him go-" Ron started before Hermione cut him off.

"The fat lady has guarded Gryffindor tower for centuries. You cannot get in without the password; Snuffles proved that. There is supposed to be magic to prevent the portrait being removed as well. What Harry did should have been impossible. Honestly haven't you read Hogwarts: A History?"

"No." Ron and Ginny replied. They grinned and high fived. Hermione rolled her eyes and hoped Professor Dumbledore would talk to Harry.

As for Harry himself, he had just reached the Headmaster's office. He was in no mood to wait, not after what he had just been forced to watch. It had been sick and disgusting and yet useful. Voldemort had finally revealed himself in an explosion of random muggle killings. Fifteen places were hit in the last fifteen minutes with fifteen dark marks in the sky. You didn't have to be a genius to work out the symbolism. Harry reached the stone griffin statue and started to pelt it with names of sweets. After a minute of fruitless guessing, Harry placed his hand on its head and blew it to smithereens. He didn't exactly know how, he just knew that he was angry, wanted answers and his magic was obeying.

Harry ascended the stairs and the door opened. Professor Dumbledore blinked his blue eyes then stepped aside to let Harry in. He glanced at the destruction below and sighed. He thought this would happen. Luckily he had a plan.

Harry strode in. There was a long table off to the side, with quite a few people around it. All the teachers, the minister, a few Aurors, Remus and a large black dog. They turned to look at him with wide eyes. Harry did look awful- he was pale and sweating, his hair stuck up in different directions. His glamour on his eyes had fallen slightly, causing heavy bags to appear. Combine that with an annoyed and angry expression, Harry looked quite different to when they had all last seen him.

Harry took a seat between Remus and Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore closed the door and joined him.

"Well-" He only got out before the Minister exploded.

"Dumbledore what is the boy doing here?"

Harry sent him an icy glare and ran a hand through his sweaty hair tiredly.

"Oxford, Bristol, London, Swindon, Leeds, Chelsea, Manchester, Liverpool, Reading, Boston, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Nottingham, Cirencester, Torquay." Harry stated wearily. The Minister went purple as a few people gasped.

"How do you know where the attacks- I mean, what is that- uh how is that relevant-"

Harry waved a hand through the air impatiently.

"Yes I know about the attacks, I know where, when, who, how and why. I've seen it happen; therefore I have a right to be here. Be quiet."

The minister spluttered but went silent. Dumbledore looked sadly at Harry. "Another vision." He said. It wasn't a question. Harry nodded and Padfoot put his chin on Harry's leg, looking up at him. Harry patted the animagus on the head and turned his attention back to Dumbledore.

"Minister, the dark mark was seen in fifteen places all over the country. Surely you must accept that Lord Voldemort has returned." Dumbledore said.

"Nonsense!" said Umbridge. "The Ministry-"

Fudge placed a hand on her pink shoulder. She looked at him with her toad like face, the way a dog looks at it's master.

"Dolores, I think it's time to listen. There is undisputable evidence and I fear if we prolong this facade, the backlash from the public will be worse." Harry realized then that the Minister was smarter than he had behaved in the past. He nodded at them.

"Thanks you." Harry and Dumbledore said at the same time, though Harry's was significantly more annoyed. Remus smirked and nudged Harry slightly. Harry sent a weak smile at Remus.

Kingsley stood up. Then, in his low calming voice, said:

"It is true; those 15 places have been hit tonight. The death toll has not yet been counted but we estimate-"

"1,351 people are dead." Harry interjected blankly. Kingsley looked at Harry in barely concealed shock.

"How can you be sure?"

"Voldemort dispatched 15 teams, each lead by a senior death eater. They started at the biggest house in their areas then worked outwards using largely damaging spells such as reducto and bombarda. When there was enough destruction to mask them, they went in raping, torturing and killing individually. Few escaped." Harry responded in a monotone factual voice.

Professor Sprout had tears running down her nose and the general expression along the table was one of horror.

The meeting continued with Harry reluctantly giving nasty details and the Aurors confirming. Dumbledore gave advice to the Minister throughout.

"I'll make the announcement tomorrow. I'm...sorry about the slander. I didn't condone it but I didn't stop it." Fudge said dejectedly.

Harry snorted humourlessly and Dumbledore nodded.

"It could have been worse, Cornelius." Dumbledore said as he opened the door for everyone to file out. Padfoot leapt up at Harry as he left, giving him a slobbery dog lick on the cheek. Harry grimaced and poked him in the back. Remus laughed and quickly wrapped Harry in a hug. Harry flinched at the contact but held on. Umbridge muttered in the background.

There were many exclamations at the bottom as they came across the rubble, a few looking fearful at Harry. He ignored them and shut the door.

"Professor, why did I have to watch that?" Harry said.

"Please, Harry, sit down. And to answer your question, I believe there is a connection between you and Tom, though I am not sure how. Perhaps the sharing of blood during the third task?"

Harry shrugged and rested his head in his arms. The Professor was about to say something else when one of the portraits exclaimed:

"Headmaster! The fat lady's portrait magic has been disturbed!"

"That was me."

Harry mumbled from within his arms tiredly. Dumbledore looked pensieve then opened a draw. He withdrew a grey string pendant, a swirling black stone suspended at the end. It faintly glowed a grey colour. Harry looked up and sent a confused glance at his headmaster. 

"Professor what is that?" He asked.

"This is a power suppressor, Harry. I noticed that your magic has gone rather wild, yes? Ever since, you connected with your magical core, your suppressed magic has been temperamental. It's time for us to suppress it again, only to the point of safety. It could explode and hurt someone, namely you."

Dumbledore said, handing it over to Harry who slipped it over his head. The stone fell just in line with his heart, and a strange calm feeling flew around his chest. The weak grey glow turned into a slightly stronger green.

Harry let out a sigh. Great. Another thing that made him dangerous or freaky. Then another thought flashed across his mind. What if his magic was driving him insane? The skeletal horses, these visions- if he wasn't insane after all the torture, there was certainly a good chance he was now. Harry craved his knife all of a sudden and nodded quickly to his headmaster, then dashed out of the doorway. He skirted around the stone rubble and sprinted towards the nearest abandoned classroom.

He was never going to have a normal Halloween.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Why does supernatural air at different times in the UK to America? It's so annoying…**

 **I wrote this in the car, so it may be a little jumpy and nonsensical.**


	22. Crushes and Bludgers

**Been humming 'Breaking Free' from HSM all day.**

 **Some gardeners arrived and started trimming one of the hedges and I'm home alone and have no idea what to do.**

 **This fic has around 3 or 4 chapters left, and then I'll get to work on the sequel immediately. Promise!**

 **000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 22

The second week of November dawned dry and cool- perfect temperatures for the first Quidditch match of the season. It was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, and Angelina had been pushing them for weeks to get into shape. Ron had significantly improved, and Ginny was flawless already. In every way, Harry thought. He had finally realised he had a crush on Ginny. Come on, why didn't everyone? She was absolutely gorgeous, funny, smart, a brilliant chaser…

But as soon as Harry had thought about it, a sinking feeling had rolled over his depressed consciousness- why the hell would she want him? He was scarred, broken; a side affect of the immortal torture memories that ruthlessly plagued him, uncaring of his desperately whispered mental pleas that fell on metaphorically deaf ears.

God. He was also turning into Hermione. Instead of sleeping- or trying to, only to be woken as little as three hours later- he had given up and started to read. There was a lot about the Wizarding World he didn't know and his grades were going up regardless of his tiredness. He had grown accustomed to it, but it still showed occasionally. For instance, Harry flinched as loud music assaulted his senses. Odd. He didn't remember getting ready for the match. Ron nudged his shoulder enthusiastically and mounted his broom. Harry lethargically copied him, a buzzing in his ears.

They kicked off into the pitch and the crowd roared.

"Johnson, Bell, Weasley, Weasley, Weasley, Weasley, Potter!" Lee Jordan announced. "And no, I'm not making up the amount of Weasleys on that team! But they're a talented lot, so the ginger overload doesn't matter!"

"Jordan!" Snapped Professor McGonagall, but there was no heat to it. She looked too excited about winning. Harry found himself hovering around the left centre tower and watched as the balls were released. Ginny shot in immediately and was a blur down the side, ducking and weaving, as she scored what was possibly the fastest goal Harry had ever seen. The Ravenclaw keeper stared open mouthed as the ball sailed past their outstretched fingers, and the Gryffindors exploded.

"10-nil to Gryffindor, courtesy of Weasley, an amazing goal!" Lee yelled.

Harry smiled faintly and checked on the rest of the team. Ron was circling all his hoops, an improvement on his earlier strategy of just going in front of one. Ginny, Katie and Angelina were a terrifying trinity, scoring goals left and right. And in the middle. Fred and George were bludgeoning various Ravenclaws away from Ginny, as they kept on trying to sabotage her.

Angelina scored a goal and the gryffindor stands erupted in a mass of stomping and cheering.

Harry scanned the pitch lazily, feeling more alive now he was in the air. A glint flashed in the corner of his eye and he turned his head sharply. It was just the corner of someone's omnoculars, but Cho, the Ravenclaw seeker caught Harry's head movement. Harry decided to go with it, recalling everything Krum had done last year in the final. He shot towards the glint, turning downwards when Cho was right behind him.

They went down practically vertically, and many people gasped. Harry put on an extra burst of speed and turned up sharply as soon as he could make out the individual blades of grass. His knees skimmed the floor, tearing off his shin pads and grazing the flesh and fabric. He winced as he heard a thump behind him. Cho had not been so lucky, the end of her broom had bounced off the floor and she was flung off. She sent him an angry look as she remounted, unhurt, but Harry was already flying towards the centre off the pitch.

"A marvellous Wronski Feint by Potter, wonder if Krum taught him a few moves last year?"

Harry froze at the mention of last year but shook it off, looking around at the team as his head pounded. Ginny sent him a wink and Ron gave him a thumbs up. Harry felt woozy, and his hand slipped off the handle slightly. He righted it clumsily and leant forwards. Get a grip, he told himself and resumed his lazy circling.

"Another goal for Gryffindor by the stunning Angelina Johnson, what a fine girl that is-"

"Lee!" McGonagall scolded. Lee sighed and continued.

"Either way, Gryffindor leads 120-50, a brilliant game so far. And- Wait, has Potter seen the snitch?"

He had. Harry streaked across the air in pursuit of the tiny gold flutter. Cho was approaching his right, but was still a few meters away. It shot upwards and Harry followed, though the steep incline made his vision blur. Just as he went light headed at the altitude, his cold hand closed over the struggling metal heavily. Cho cursed behind him and flew off stroppily.

"Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor win 270-50!"

Harry flipped round and drifted back down as his teammates flew up to celebrate. The crowds went wild. His head was still fuzzy and felt very detached. Suddenly something flew into his peripheral vision and his teammates' congratulations turned into rapid warnings. His sluggish body reacted too slowly and the bludger that had been pelted towards him in anger, smashed into the side of his head. It knocked him clean off his broom. He fell around 15 feet and landed on the soft grass with a whump. It didn't hurt, just jolted him a bit, but he found himself unwillingly slipping into the familiar realm of unconsciousness…

Ron gasped as Michael Corner, a sore loser, swung his bat into a bludger that headed straight for Harry. Harry was floating downwards, looking very tired but a little victorious.

"Harry, bludger!" Ron shouted. He wasn't that worried, this had happened before and they rarely hit him, Harry always dodged. But it was as if Harry was in slow-motion. The bludger soared through the air and hit Harry square in the head with a loud smack. People in the stands gasped and winced. The force of it unbalanced Harry and he fell of the edge of his Firebolt. The twins went to grab his broom; they didn't need a repeat of third year. Harry's old nimbus had blown into the whomping willow when dementors attacked him.

Ron himself flew down to Harry, who had fallen straight to the ground. It wasn't too far, but the wrong landing on the wrong angle could do some damage. Harry looked okayish, he was a bit pale and he was out cold. He wasn't too injured. Madame Hooch landed beside Ron. She checked him over briskly, feeling for a pulse, checking his eyes.

"He'll be fine, it just seems to be a concussion. Get him to Madame Pomfrey. And, good work today Weasley."

"Thanks." Ron muttered, ears going red at the top.

"What's wrong with him?" Fred asked as he and his twin touched down.

"Concussion." said Ron, heaving his best mate up by the shoulders. Fred smacked him aside and raised his wand.

"Mobilcorpus." Harry was instantly raised as if he was on a stretcher, limbs trailing and head lolling like a puppet with invisible strings. Ron winced- Harry wouldn't want to be seen like that. No-one in the stands could really see him; the team had formed a protective ring around their seeker, but still. If Draco Malfoy said anything, Ron would punch his lights out.

Not that Malfoy would anyway. After the Minister had announced Voldemort's return, Harry had been sent so many owls apologising, and classmates had been climbing over each other to say sorry- everyone was looking to defend the Boy-who-lived. A shot against him would rear up the entire student body. Harry had accepted their apologies but treated everyone rather frostily. They had gradually backed off after being exposed to his cold tone and stony eyes. Idiots, Ron thought. Of course Harry wasn't going to forgive them straight away. And when Harry was pissed, you don't get in his way. He was downright scary when he got angry (though thankfully he didn't much).

They reached the hospital wing doors and Madame Pomfrey greeted them, hurrying them over to a hospital wing bed. Ron stood tall and quickly called out:

"No wait, put him in this bed." He said, gesturing to the third bed in on the right. Madame Pomfrey understood straight away with a weary smile and moved Harry. The team was slightly confused though.

"Why that bed?" Katie asked, furrowing her finely plucked eyebrows.

"You all know how much Harry goes to the hospital wing, right?"

Everyone nodded, some grimacing sympathetically. Harry did get injured a lot, though it was rarely his own fault. It just so happened that possessed teachers, basilisks, slytherins, bludgers, death eaters, dragons, merpeople, crazed dark lords and whatnot kept 'accidently' harming him.

"Harry's been in here so many times, he decided to claim a bed. He tried all of them and apparently this one is the comfiest."

The team laughed just as Hermione barrelled through the door. Her wild hair flew in all different directions. She looked around desperately then relaxed when she saw a now conscious Harry smiling weakly at her.

"Harry!" She exclaimed. The team jumped, not noticing Harry was awake. Harry gave them a sheepish glance and Ron rolled his eyes, grinning.

"Little eavesdropper." Ron stated.

"Little gossiper." Harry fired back amusedly.

"Oh? You're calling _me_ little? And how tall are you again?" Ron said, knowing his best friend was annoyed by Ron's height. Harry snorted as Madame Pomfrey bustled over with a few potions. He tensed as she withdrew her wand, every nerve in his body humming.

"Just a quick diagnostic, Harry." She said.

"Madame Pomfrey, no, really, I'm fine. Just got a little tired."

"Nonsense Harry, you don't know-"

Trust me, I can tell- there's no damage done."

At the reminder of his extensive knowledge of injuries, Madame Pomfrey cringed a little. She still had nightmares about that poor bloody boy that had escaped Lord Voldemort half-dead. Harry felt guilty about using that as a persuasion technique, but it had worked. Madame Pomfrey lowered her wand and handed him a pain relieving potion. The others looked at the protestations and laughed.

No one knew the real reason Harry refused to have a diagnostic except himself. He knew what they would say- they would sneer and call him attention seeking. Look confused and say he had no reason to do it. Give him disappointed glances and never be able to talk to him again... No. He wouldn't let that happen. The current situation worked put for everybody.

The others were still chatting amongst themselves. Hermione nudged Ron playfully with her shoulder, her cheeks still rosy from being out in the rapidly decreasing temperatures.

"That third save you made was really good, Ron!"

Ron blushed at the tops of his ears and Ginny and Harry winked at each other automatically.

"It was a bit of an accident really, I got distracted and then the quaffle was flying towards me. I lunged and just somehow caught it."

"What were you distracted by?" Hermione asked.

"I was counting the stands, there were 10 but originally there were 12..." Ron trailed off.

"Where did you read that!" Hermione whispered excitedly.

"... Hogwarts: a History..." Ron mumbled. Hermione raised her eyebrows and a look of surprise rolled over her face.

"What?" She murmured happily.

"You were always talking about it so last week I just... Read it." He put his hands in his pockets awkwardly and shrugged. Fred and George gasped dramatically. Ron looked up at Hermione and she threw her arms round him, kissing him passionately. Harry blinked. Yes, he thought, just won the bet. Sure enough, after recovering, the twins pulled out a sickle each and tossed them to Harry and Ginny. Ron and Hermione were still locked in an embrace, as if the world outside the two of them had vanished. Harry slid off the hospital bed, chugged the potion and edged round his 2 best friends. Then he, Fred, George and Ginny sprinted out of the hospital wing, all grinning like idiots.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Romioneeeeeeee! Yay. Took a few more days longer than I wanted to post but I was watching supernatural sooooo... Season 11 is pretty good. LUCIFER IS BACK?! Nice.**


	23. Captures and Carvings

**W** **orking on two new stories for Supernatural and Percy Jackson. Might post, might not. Depends if I like it.**

 **I'm in Wales, but I'll be in the car a lot so I'll write on the way. Expect another chapter soon.**

 **Please review!**

 **00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 23 

Harry splashed water from the sink on his face and left the bathroom without looking in the mirror. His hand throbbed from the detention he had just served. He didn't bother casting a glamour, he was too tired. Regardless of the fact he had been telling the truth, Umbridge still treated him unfairly. Harry guessed she was angry that he had showed up the ministry. Even so, it was funny to mock her during the detention.

He wandered back in to his room, smiling at Ron's empty bed. After Hermione had kissed him yesterday, they had practically been inseparable. Right now, they would be in the common room, cuddled up in front of the fire. He grinned as he climbed into bed. He was so happy for his best friends, and he had suspected it since his third year.

He withheld a wince as his pyjama sleeve moved away from his arm. The dried blood had been glued to it and the thin straight scabs were ripped off slightly. He rubbed his arm, trying to resist the urge to cut. Harry curled up into a ball, and let his head fall on to the cool pillow. He closed his eyes for a minute before snorting. Yeah, wishful thinking Harry, he told himself. Rolling over, he snaked a hand into his drawer and pulled out one of the few remaining sleeping potions he had left. It wasn't dreamless, those had been used up weeks ago, but it would knock him out for hopefully enough time.

He downed it then threw it under his bed. It hit another vial with a clink. There were quite a few down there. Grey drowsiness floated in, dimming all of Harry's negative thoughts. He slumped and was deep asleep in seconds...

"Lucius!" Harry snapped. "Where is Wormtail?" The man with long blonde hair looked up.

"I don't know, my Lord. He vanished, claiming to help us somehow."

Harry turned his wand on Lucius. He could see the fear in the whites of his eyes and smiled sickly.

"Crucio!" Harry snarled, as Nagini slid into the room. After a minute he released Lucius, who twitched on the floor before nodding and stumbling out the room. He stuttered apologies and promises to find Pettigrew.

Harry sneered at his retreating form, then spoke to Nagini with a kindness no one would have believed.

"Nagini, have you found the rat on your travelsss ?"

"Not yet, Massster." Nagini hissed back.

"He'ssss too much of a coward to turn himssself in, we can only asssssume he hasss been captured on a fool'sss misssssion."

"I will sssearch the minissstry, Massster." Nagini slithered off.

Harry clenched his long fingers into a fist then relaxed his hand. He breathed out through his nose and snapped his fingers. A death eater hurried in from outside and knelt down.

"My Lord?" He said fearfully.

"Rookwood, you will also go into the Ministry. Find Wormtail. Go."

He scurried off. Harry swept off his throne and stalked into the dungeons. He needed to release some stress. Ever since Potter, that infernal brat, had escaped the dungeons had been mainly empty. They had left his cell untouched, still heavily covered in blood, in the hope that they would recover the boy. But alas, the brat had been taken to a safe house. He had revealed himself on Halloween, with a special message to Potter, and had taken a few muggles prisoner. None of them had lasted long, it gave him a reluctant respect for Potter who lasted quite a while before screaming. These pathetic muggles started screaming as soon as he opened the door, for Merlin's sake.

There was only one left now, a surprisingly tough man who had been in some sort of muggle army. Either way, tonight was his last night alive. Harry smirked darkly.

As the muggle drowned on his own blood, a sickening gurgling in his crimson throat, Harry woke up with a shout of pure agony. He flinched at the noise and retreated slightly, trying to regain his breathing calmly.

In the bed next to him, Ron woke up at once, startled. He had adjusted the silencing charm so that he could hear when Harry woke up. Ron had expected Harry to moan in his sleep or something but what he didn't expect was Harry to scream violently as if he was burned. He pulled his curtain back an inch and watched as a sweat drenched Harry swept his curtains open. He looked wrecked; Ron grimaced. Harry cast a silent tempus. Ron's jaw dropped at both Harry's casual use of silent magic and the fact that Harry had only been asleep for 3 hours. He had been asleep when Ron had come in from a kissing session with Hermione.

Harry somehow seemed happy with this figure and got changed quickly. Ron gaped as Harry slid out of the door silently, in running clothes. Had he been doing this every night? Was he only getting a few hours of sleep? It would explain why he was looking fitter than ever, but also explained why he was looking so tired, constantly. He didn't have any bags under his eyes, weirdly, but his expression and body language just screamed fatigue.

Ron padded out of bed and pulled the Marauder's map out of Harry's drawer. He searched for Harry's dot and found it moving at a rapid pace around the lake. He shook his head angrily; anger that only increased as he found the few vials of sleeping potion in the drawer. It wasn't anger at Harry, no. He was angry at himself, for not noticing, angry at the ministry for giving Harry a hard time, angry at Voldemort for effectively ruining Harry's life and angry at the teachers for not trying to help Harry. It hit him with an awful feeling- the things Harry had seen, combined with what he had been through, losing his family, growing up with those horrible relatives, who then died too, never having a normal school year, all the horror of the Triwizard Tournament then the hell he went through at the hands of Voldemort and his sadistic minions- no wonder Harry couldn't sleep. Ron suddenly felt very sad for his best friend. Ron glanced at the map again and froze.

Harry's dot was being swiftly followed by another dot labelled 'Peter Pettigrew'.

Ron scrambled out of bed then sprinted out of the dormitory. He desperately needed to find Harry, limbs flailing in his too small maroon pyjamas. He reached the lake in record time, puffing heavily. Scanning the lake anxiously, Ron bit his lip. It was still dark and only someone who ran around it every day could possibly navigate safely. Or someone who had been sneaking around these areas for years. Ron was at a disadvantage.

A burst of red light illuminated the water over to Ron's left. He saw a stunning spell sent directly to a dark moving figure that could only be Harry. A shout ripped from his throat but it was unneeded. The figure span and dodged with agility, before shooting off a dark blue curse. Pettigrew's watery face looked in shock as he dived clumsily to the floor as the curse shot over his head.

The two began duelling, Harry clearly having the advantage. Ron raised his eyebrows as he ran. Harry was good; if anyone saw Harry in action, they could definitely understand how Harry had escaped Voldemort so many times. Ron was drawing closer, and caught up with the pair. He sighed in relief as Wormtail was too slow to dodge Harry's aggressive attack. Harry had sent off a barrage of spells, some Ron had never heard of, and his last stunner had clipped Wormtail. He collapsed to the floor and Harry bound him tightly.

Ron stepped forwards, holding his hands up in surrender as Harry turned on him, thinking he was another death eater. He had a glint in his eye and Ron felt unsettled.

"Harry, I- uh- heard you leave. I saw Wormtail on the map and came to warn you but, um, you got him."

Ron didn't exactly know what to do. His mind was overloaded with information. Harry gave him a questioning glance before levitating Wormtail in a full body bind. Harry snorted, finding it ironic for some reason.

They walked up to the castle in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, until they reached the huge main doors. McGonagall was there, looking furious, but when she saw the limp body of her former student, she blinked. Her grey hair was loose and it trailed below her shoulders.

"Potter, Weasley, what- what is this? No, hold on, to the headmaster's office first."

Ron shrugged and they set off to go see Dumbledore. Harry's face was a myriad of emotions, the most prominent being satisfaction. It looked very uncharacteristic on him. His eyebrows turned up at the ends, lip curled, nose slightly scrunched and a victorious light in his green eyes. For a split second, Ron could have sworn that Harry's eyes were darker but when he checked, they were still a vivid light green. They reached the Headmaster's door, where he was stood outside in long blue starry pyjamas.

Ron sent Harry a quick quirk of his mouth. Harry acknowledged it but his mind was clearly focused on other business.

"Professor, we found Wormtail." Harry addressed Dumbledore. Ron nodded, though technically he hadn't really done anything. Dumbledore smiled proudly.

"This is fantastic news. Well done, you two. Fifty points to Gryffindor each. And of course, you know what this means to Snuffles. However, I must ask; what were you doing outside at 2 in the morning?"

Harry shuffled slightly. "I had a vision." he admitted quietly. Dumbledore looked sternly at him, though the twinkle remained.

"It wasn't anything important, just that Wormtail hadn't turned up in a while and the last muggle Voldemort had captured is dead. Throat slit then drowned. Nothing we could have done about either." Harry protested.

Ron winced about what his best friend had seen, and Professor McGonagall put her hand on Harry's shoulder as if to comfort him. Harry gritted his teeth to withhold a flinch and Ron noticed sadly. He made a mental note to tell Hermione, so they could think up something to help him.

"We should talk about this in the morning- well, later morning. For now, we should return to our beds. I shall take Wormtail to the Ministry now." Said Dumbledore.

Everyone nodded and the three headed to Gryffindor tower. The fat lady frowned as they woke her up to climb through. As they were about to split, Professor McGonagall stopped them.

"I just wanted the both of you to know how proud I am. You are credits to Gryffindor house, and you have helped free an innocent man. Well done." she seemed to tussle a bit with herself before briefly hugging them both. Then, with a stern nod towards the boy's dormitory, swept off into her own room.

Ron exchanged a shocked look with Harry, who was pink in the cheeks. He suspected that his ears were red and covered them with his hair. It was getting long again, both he and Harry needed haircuts. It was around their lower ears and it tickled. Harry smirked at his not so subtle attempt to cover up his blush and Ron playfully shoved his shoulder. Footsteps echoed behind them, and Hermione's bushy hair appeared tentatively round the corner. Ginny was right behind her. She cocked her head to the side.

"What are you two doing up? It's half 2!"

"What are you doing up?" Ron asked, equally curious.

"I was just helping Ginny with a transfiguration essay." Hermione said. "Besides, we asked you first."

They invited them to sit down, then told them what had happened. Ron noticed Harry excluding why he was up in the first place, and so did Ginny and Hermione, but they tactfully didn't ask. Ron guessed that they assumed nightmares. It wasn't that hard.

"So Sirius is going to go free? That's great," said Hermione. "He'll be able to legally become your guardian, Harry."

"I guess." said Harry, brushing a hand through his hair, making it fluff up.

Ginny smiled- he looked like a tired puppy. Something stood out on his hand in the pale firelight and Hermione gasped. With surprising reflexes, she grabbed his hand out the air. Harry pulled back instantly but she clung on, being pulled out of her seat slightly. Ron and Ginny watched, open-mouthed. After a few seconds of useless tussling, Harry sighed and let his arm go limp.

Hermione turned his arm over (Harry was thankful he ran in long sleeves, though her nails were digging into his cuts) and read what was engraved onto his hand.

"Harry!" She shrieked. Taking her shock as an opportunity, Harry yanked his hand back.

"It's nothing." he said, knowing full well she wouldn't leave it. She shook her head in disbelief.

"You didn't- no, wrong hand, deep, repeatedly, lines-" She cut herself off in the midst of her ramblings. "Lines," she breathed. "Harry, Umbridge made you write lines."

"I know Hermione but-"

"Harry, the words 'i must not tell lies' are carved into the back of your hand!" Hermione said loudly. Ron and Ginny looked at Harry's hand with wide eyes.

"Hermione, it-" Harry didn't get far as a door opened and Professor McGonagall walked out.

"I know that tonight was exciting but I told you to go to bed, not sit around-"

"Professor!" Interrupted Hermione. "Did you know what Professor Umbridge does in her detentions?"

Professor McGonagall looked mildly affronted at being interrupted but answered all the same.

"I believe she makes them write lines, though as far as I am aware the only one to ever have detention with her is Mr Potter here." Her lips pursed at the end, looking at Harry with a strict expression. Harry raised his eyebrows; he didn't know that.

"Did you also know," Hermione continued in a shaky voice "that the lines they write get engraved into the back of their hand?"

Professor McGonagall looked confused for a split second before her eyes darted to Harry's hand. A furious look blossomed in her face and she knelt in front of Harry. He avoided her eyes, uncomfortable at the attention.

"How many detentions have you had, Harry?" the transfiguration teacher said in a surprisingly gentle voice. He shrugged, still looking down.

"I don't know." he mumbled.

"What time do they start?"

"Around 7."

"What time do they finish?" Harry glanced at his friends pleadingly but they all stared back resolutely.

"Around 1." he reluctantly muttered, ignoring the looks and gasps.

"Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Ginny said miserably. He shrugged.

"Didn't seem important."

Professor McGonagall abruptly stood up and walked towards the door. Before she left, she turned around with barely controlled fury on her face. Harry tensed.

"Harry, you and your fellow students' safety is very important. Trust me- we did not know. But now we do and she'll be out of hear before she can say 'hem hem'." She purposefully strode out the door as everyone chuckled nervously.

Harry slowly turned back to his friends. Hermione was glaring at his hand, Ginny had her arms folded and was scowling at him and Ron was just looking blank.

"Harry, I can't believe you didn't tell us." Ginny said. "Do you not trust us?"

"No, yes, of course, look it's nothing, it didn't even hurt." Harry said.

Ginny glared.

"Having words sliced into your skin is not nothing, Harry Potter!" she said angrily. Harry's eyes darkened and his friends leant back slightly at the expression. He lifted his shirt to show the word 'mudblood', which was a thick deep scar across his lower stomach. His friends winced.

"This is something. That is nothing. It isn't important, so just drop it." Harry said in a low voice. He got up and ascended the dormitory stairs silently.

Ginny sat down, regretting her anger at Harry. She sighed. It wasn't his fault, he just wasn't... right, at the moment. Sure, he was acting fine, but he had little tics every now and then. Twitching, flinching, tensing. Not forgetting the constant glamours over his face, which nearly everyone had forgotten were there.

Even she had trouble remembering what his real face looked like, with the silvery werewolf scars and the tiny white scar on his lower lip where they had split so heavily. She wished he was the happy, shy and funny 13 year old Harry, before the tournament. Instead they were with the sad, scarred and broken 15 year old Harry who tried to hide everything.

How could everything fall apart so quickly in 2 years?

 **00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

 **Next up- Sirius's trial. Sirius' trial. The trial of Sirius. Whichever, I'm too tired for good grammar right now.**

 **I got asked out and it was awkward cuz I said no. Lol. He gave me chocolate beforehand so i just kinda took his chocolate and left. Awks.**


	24. Freedom and Champagne

**I hope you're happy. I used my data to update since there's no wifi. You owe me 1.2 mb! *shakes fist angrily***

 **So I was just casually watching supernatural vids, when this beautiful music came on in the background. It was called Saturn by Sleeping At Last. It's so soulful, you just NEED to hear it.**

 **I'm well aware that Barty Junior was kissed in GOF but in my story, he escaped before that happened.**

 **00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 24

 _Today is historic!_

 _By Rita Skeeter_

 _On the 15th November, 2 revelations shook the Wizarding World. Number 1, Peter Pettigrew, war hero, is alive! He was brought to the Ministry by Albus Dumbledore, with allegations of him not only faking his death, but also being the Potter's secret keeper!_

 _What does this mean for the supposed 'notorious mass murderer Sirius Black? Well, my fellow Wizards and Witches, you would never believe what happened next- Sirius Black himself, of whom everyone has been searching for, for 2 years now, turned up, demanding a trial! Did you know, he never got one? Such a miscarriage of justice cannot go unnoticed. He is expected to have a trial sometime today, which shall be most exciting!_

 _And, as if that wasn't enough to satiate the thirst for gossip, esteemed Professor Umbridge was revealed to be secretly using illegal weapons on Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, who was recently thought insane until evidence of the Dark Lord Voldemort returning came to light!_

 _A Blood Quill, which is a Class B non-tradeable object and illegal, carves the words the holder writes down into the back of the hand! Mr Potter has been writing lines with one of these since the start of the term! In every detention, which classmates report to be unjustly given, for 5-7 hours, usually every night! This reporter is deeply sympathetic to the Wizarding World's saviour, and cannot wait until the Dolores Umbridge's trial in a few days time._

 _I shall be attending both trials and will write down the facts as soon as i can, my loving readers. So purchase a Daily Prophet tomorrow morning for all the info you need!_

 _For information on Sirius Black turn to page 3_

 _For information on Harry Potter turn to page 5_

 _For information on the Dark Lord's return turn to page 7_

Harry snorted as he tossed the paper into the nearest Ministry bin. Rubbish, as usual, he thought as he and Remus turned a corner. Cameras flashed in his face and he ducked his head, hurrying towards the cleared area where the courtroom doors were. He and Remus were nodded in by Kingsley, the auror in charge of restraining the press.

The room was wide, with many seats inside. Harry and Remus were ushered to the witness section and they took their places quietly. Sirius was sat in chains in the centre of the room, trying to chat up the pretty auror who was guarding him. She wasn't responding but her cheeks were pink beneath light brown fronds of hair. Remus shook his head as Harry's mouth twitched. Typical.

Fudge bustled in after a minute, the press screaming questions at him. His face was purple and he looked very flustered. The court room fell silent. Sirius stopped flirting and let his face fall neutral. Fudge ascended his podium and addressed the court.

"Let the trial of one Sirius Orion Black come to order. You are charged of being a death eater, mass murder, escape from Azkaban and betrayal of the Potters. How do you plead?" Fudge said, everyone knowing what Sirius would say.

"Not guilty to all." Sirius replied, smirking. It was as if he'd been waiting to say those words for a while. There was a loud uproar before Madame Bones stood up.

"Number one- is the accused a death eater? That can be solved relatively simply." She indicated the auror who pulled up his sleeve. His forearm was unmarked. Sirius winked at her as Susan's aunt continued.

"Let the records state that no mark was found. The dark mark cannot be covered with magic so Mr Black has presented evidence of innocence of the charge. All those in favour of clearing the accused of the implication of being a death eater?"

Most of the room raised their hands, just a few, mainly older people, refused.

"Cleared of the charge. Item 2, mass murder. 12 muggles and one Peter Pettigrew. However, new evidence has come to light, as Mr Pettigrew was found to be alive earlier today. Mr Black, can you please give your recount of the incident on the 31st October 1981?"

Sirius breathed out, and Harry noticed his hand clenching the wood of the chair he was chained to.

"I was furious with Peter for betraying Lily and James. I went after him, and cornered him in a street. Like a rat,"He said, trying to smile but it ended up more of a grimace."But I underestimated him. He yelled out, making it sound like I had betrayed them. He had his wand behind his back, and blew up half the street, before cutting off his finger and shifting into his animagus form. He hid in the sewers and i was taken away."

Some people shifted in the crowd. The DMLE head narrowed her eyes in curiosity.

"Reports say that you were laughing in an insane fashion. Care to explain?"

"I was just so...i mean, it was Peter! He'd always been the slow, unambitious and loyal friend we'd known since first year. The idea that he'd been plotting against us so cunningly, working with Voldemort-" (a flinch ran through the crowd)-" and just betraying us altogether, it was so unexpected. I didn't really know what to do about the whole random situation, so I just started laughing. And it wasn't insane, it was hysterical."

"That's a nice story." Fudge interjected. He had been silently seething throughout the first charge. He may have admitted that Voldemort was back but another blow to his career reputation? No, he would do anything to protect his career. Harry's small spark of respect that he had for the man disappeared in an instant. Fudge continued:

"Care to repeat it with Veritaserum?"

"Certainly." Series replied curtly. Fudge paled. An auror stepped in and poured it into Sirius's mouth. He wrinkled his nose at the taste before his face went lax. Sure enough, he repeated everything, only in a monotone voice.

"Just quickly before it runs out, who was the Potter's secret keeper?" Madame Bones asked.

"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius droned flatly. A few gasps were heard. "We switched as a decoy to throw off Voldemort."

More flinching occurred but most were staring in horror at the innocent 12 year Azkaban resident. Madame Bones shuffled some papers on her desk. "Well that takes care of item number 4, and you have a full apology from the Ministry. There will be a reimbursement, i assure you."

Fudge spluttered a little at the statement, not really forming words. Eventually a sentence escaped. "What about item 3?"

A few people looked at him incredulously. Madame Bones peered over the top of her glasses at him, mildly irritated.

"I believe 12 years in Azkaban is sufficient for that 6-month sentence. So we move to-"

Fudge cut her off. "I demand to know how and why he escaped."

Sirius rolled his eyes but told them the same story he had told Harry and Remus a few years ago. He had to include the bit about him being an animagus, which everyone looked surprised at. Harry guessed they thought escape from Azkaban would be a bit more difficult than just turning into a dog and swimming away. Fudge once again protested but was shot down. Sirius had effectively served his sentence for the illegal animagus charges.

Eventually Remus was called up as a witness, and he told them about his suspicions and everything he knew about Sirius's escape in Harry's third year until he changed into a werewolf. Some members of the Wizangamot backed away but Remus ignored them.

Harry was called up after, to fill them in on what had happened from that point onwards. He, obviously, omitted the time-travel part, and used the cover story they had practised.

"So Sirius took on Remus as a dog while Hermione, Ron and I went back up to the castle. We were attacked by dementors but held them off long enough for Sn-Professor Snape to help us. Somehow Sirius escaped but we were in the hospital wing by then."

Madame Bones raised her eyebrows. "Held off the dementors? One of the three of you knows how to perform a NEWT level patronus charm? And in your third year?"

Harry looked at his feet, embarrassed. "Yeah, I do."

"A corporeal patronus?"

Harry nodded. Murmurs of awe and disbelief fluttered through the room. Madame Bones looked strangely excited.

"In your third year? That's quite an achievement Mr Potter. Who taught you?"

Harry glanced at Remus questioningly, and he nodded. "Remus did." Harry said, putting his chin in the air defiantly. He didn't have time for prejudices, it reminded him of the Dursleys and Snape- judging before knowing. Some looked shocked but Amelia Bones just nodded like she expected it. "What form does it take?"

Harry was about to answer but Fudge interrupted. "This is not about Potter! Do not stray Amelia!" He had a point but he said it so angrily it sounded like a snap. Amelia nodded though her eyes had a defiant flash briefly. She turned back to Sirius.

"Thank you Mr Potter. Now, just to clarify- all those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?"

No one was that stupid. Every hand was up, and the chains slithered off Sirius. He stretched then stood up.

"Thank you, Madame Bones." he said, blanking the Minister.

"You're welcome, Sirius. Trial over, meeting adjourned. Congratulations."

Harry edged out of the witness box and hugged Sirius. Everyone stood up to leave and their little group tagged onto the back, chatting away happily. The noise outside the door increased tenfold once someone told the press the result. Sirius bit his lip slightly. Then, head up, he strode outside. People clamoured to see him and bright flashes crackled like lightening in the atrium.

"Mr Black, Mr Black!"

"Sirius! How do you feel?"

"Mr Black, will you be attending Pettigrew's trial?"

"Mr Black, over here!"

"Will you be adopting your Godson, now that you're free?"

Harry froze for a heartbeat at that one. He hoped it would be true, but didn't want to push it. He didn't want to make Sirius feel obligated, it was okay if he didn't want him. He wasn't going to force himself into his life. But to his shock, Sirius turned round and addressed the man who had shouted that. A brief quiet fell as everyone, including Harry, anticipated the answer.

"If I can." was all he said. Harry's mouth went dry- Sirius wanted to adopt him. Sirius wanted to be his family, the only he had. Sirius glanced back at Harry with hesitant grey eyes, and smiled slightly.

"R-really?" Harry stuttered. They started walking, remembering the press was still listening. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder.

"If you want, of course. I mean, you don't-" Harry turned and gripped Sirius in a tight hug.

"Are you mad?" he said, muffled into Sirius's shoulder.

Sirius beamed, remembering those exact words from that night when he first met teenage Harry, face to face. He had asked Harry to live with him then, and he had given him the exact expression he had now. Pure disbelief and happiness. He squeezed Harry happily before letting go. Remus grinned at the pair before the three walked towards the floo fireplaces.

Harry's mind was a blur. He was going to be adopted. Sirius was going to be his actual official family. He wouldn't be a total orphan-no-family-loner. Unless Sirius changed his mind- No. Harry cut himself off. He wouldn't even consider it. Living with Sirius would be great. He made a vow to do most of the cooking as a way to say thank you. He didnt know how to ever repay him.

While Harry's thoughts darted about, Sirius's were doing the same. His father wasn't much of a role model. He wanted perfection, and used to throw stinging hexes at his son, or lock him in his room for days. He had escaped at the age of 16 though, and James's father was just the best. But what if he turned out like his father? He shouldn't have sprung that on Harry- what if he didn't want to be adopted? What if he said no? He didn't know much about Harry's relatives, he only heard about Petunia when she was young. What if he wasn't as good as them? What if...

They reached the fireplaces, each man lost in his own thoughts. Sirius went through first then Harry, then Remus.

They came through the flames into Dumbledore's office, where the headmaster, Professor McGonagall, Hermione and most of the Weasleys were anxiously waiting. Sirius spread his arms happily.

"Cleared of all charges." he announced cheerfully.

Everyone relaxed and congratulations were thrown about. Fred and George nodded at each other then pulled out some Dr. Filibusters wet-start fireworks. They let them off with a bang that made everyone but Harry and Sirius, who had seen them, jump.

The twins then pulled a tray of champagne filled glasses out from behind them. Everyone took a glass, except an angry Ginny, who had been skipped. Fred handed her a glass of water instead with a grin then raised his glass in sync with George.

"Cheers!"

 **00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

 **This chapter kinda wrote itself, so don't expect this update-every-day malarkey to be a thing.**

 **I don't want to go back to school and i don't wanna do the holiday homework.**

 **So, in Italy, loads of people have died due to an earthquake. ONE OF MY BESTFRIENDS IS ON HOLIDAY THERE. She's not responding to my texts and I'm really worried. I hope she's okay. Update, she just texted me, she's fine**.


	25. Veritaserum and Tolerance

**Someone in the car next to me just ran a red light. Idjit.**

 **My parents tried to make me go to bed at 10:30! High five to those of us who go to bed at 2am cuz they just want to 'get to the end of this chapter'. Then end up finishing the whole thing.**

 **This chappie is dedicated to DarknessRebel who gives awesome reviews**!

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 25

The news of Umbridge's removal spread like wildfire across the school. The slytherins were a bit put out but the rest of the houses rejoiced. Even most of the teachers looked happier. Quite a lot of people approached Harry. They either wanted to know if it was true or wanted details. One older Gryffindor girl even went so far as to grab his hand. He almost cursed her, redirecting at the last second, and she looked very startled. No one grabbed him after that.

Malfoy's little band of friends were relentless, telling him he must not tell lies and asking him if his hand hurt. However, five or six slytherins had come up to him privately and apologized for their housemates. Harry knew that all slytherins weren't bad, hell he was almost one himself, but it was still nice to have that belief solidified, even if it was unexpected.

Ginny had said sorry for snapping, and helped him avoid slytherins. Hermione was looking into a spell to remove scars but to no avail. There weren't any. Harry reluctantly already knew this. Ron distracted him with quidditch and tried to cheer him up constantly. It made Harry happy to see that his friends cared.

The Umbridge trial was scheduled later, around 6 so Harry could attend his classes and have dinner. He then had to floo to the Ministry to be a witness, along with McGonagall and Hermione.

He was dreading it. Not only would they pity him but they might fear him. After all, he held back his sly and dark comments for those meetings. She was as sadistic as a death eater so Harry treated her as one. To his classmates he was quiet, to his friends and family he was happy but to Umbridge he was a ruthless demon. All dark chuckles and sarcasm.

Harry hoped it wouldn't affect the outcome of the trial.

Remus was currently standing in as the Defense professor and every student (except a few) were enjoying his classes. They were well thought out and extremely interesting. But no pressure-water spells could stop 6 o'clock coming around and eventually Harry found himself standing by Sirius, Remus, McGonagall and Hermione in Dumbledore's office. His arms were stinging; he had just avoided being caught in the act. Hermione had barged into his dorm while he was supposed to be grabbing some things and he had freaked and jammed the knife into his wooden bed frame. She looked confused but not suspicious and it made Harry nearly sigh in relief.

"Time to go."

Professor McGonagall said briskly, ushering them towards the fireplace. The flames shot up as she threw the powder in and Harry flinched back slightly. It had never hit him how closely the colours were related- floo fire green was very similar to killing curse green. Trying not to be sick, Harry stepped through. Luckily no-one had seen his twitchiness. His landing wasn't the most graceful, in fact, he nearly fell over. A hand had steadied him and he glanced up tensely. It was Tonks.

"Bit of a role reversal."

He muttered quietly and she grinned. She had come to help him train in the odd session with Sirius and Remus, what with her recent auror training knowledge. They had become good friends; she treated him like a little brother. Her hair was currently a dark pink and a wavy shoulder length. She had toned down the glaring colours due to the seriousness of the trial.

"By the way, Slytherin beat Hufflepuff in the Quidditch game today." Harry said as he dusted off his robes and ignored the flashes of cameras next to him.

"We haven't had a good team in ages," Tonks said wistfully, also getting annoyed by the camera flashes. "They all want a piece of you, kid." Tonks said out of the side of her mouth.

"Any chance you could make them leave?" Harry said wearily.

"You crazy? This is massive- Ministry appointed teacher tortures precious celebrity. This here, young Harry, is journalist gold." Tonks said. Harry rolled his eyes.

"So that's a no?" He said.

"Not even Hagrid with a flaming pitchfork could clear off these pests." Tonks replied.

Harry snorted at the mental picture as Remus came through. In the corner of his eye he saw Tonks stand up straighter and he pressed his mouth together. He had watched them flirt for weeks and he and Sirius had a bet. Sirius said this year, Harry said next year. It was basically whenever Remus would give in.

"Hi Remus!" Tonks said cheerfully.

She kept brushing a lock of hair off her face. A shadow fell across Harry's shoulder and he glanced back to see Sirius. They both stepped back slightly, leaving a bashful Remus to stutter happily under Tonks' enthusiasm. Hermione and McGonagall flooed in behind them and started up a quiet talk about transfiguration. Sirius grinned at Remus' babbling and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder as a pillar of silent support for the upcoming event. Harry sent a quick smile at him in gratitude, feeling mildly shocked at the unexpected comfort.

Suddenly all the press was diverted momentarily to the other side of the room where a bedraggled Umbridge was in chains and accompanied by Aurors and the Minister himself. Her bow was askew and dirt stained her hideous pink clothes. Her face was even more toad like now that it was wobbling in anger. Harry absently remarked to himself that she reminded him of his Uncle. Strange. He hadn't thought about their deaths in months. He didn't really care, not with how they treated him. Well he was never going to let anyone treat him like that again. He stood up taller and put on a blank face, as he and his companions were directed towards the doors.

They sat in the front row. It was a different courtroom, but still looked exactly identical to the other. Only this time, Umbridge was shackled to the chair while Sirius observed smugly. Madame Bones stepped up as the huge doors were shut, cutting off the noise from the press. She tapped her papers against the lectern and began.

"Dolores Jane Umbridge, you are charged with torture of a minor, abuse of power and possessing illegal artifacts. How do you plead?" Umbridge stuck her chin defiantly into the air and Harry had an urge to smack her. Her voice rang out simpering and girly.

"Not guilty to all."

Like with Sirius, the courtroom exploded into noise. Sirius gripped the wood of his chair and Remus sighed. McGonagall and Hermione merely looked furious. Harry shrugged- it was to be expected. There's no way she would willingly go to Azkaban, and definitely not because of him.

Fudge blustered at Amelia until she unwillingly continued over the noise. "First item," she said loudly, extinguishing other rants

"Torture of a minor. Record states that you knowingly used a Blood Quill, a Class B non-tradeable object, on one Mr Harry Potter. First witness- Mr Potter, please step up."

Harry's legs were stiff but he shuffled along the row until he was standing in the witness box. Amelia Bones addressed him gently.

"Would you like to give evidence under Veritaserum or as a memory?" Harry thought about it then shrugged.

"Whichever is easiest." Fudge scowled at him then stood up.

"I feel both are necessary to get a good opinion of the circumstances."

Harry frowned angrily- he didn't know where the man that had been in Dumbledore's office on Halloween had gone, but this wasn't him. He was starting to think that Fudge had put on that little 'admit-Dumbledore-is-right' routine just to get on his good side. Hopefully, Dumbledore saw through him. An auror handed him a vial of clear liquid. Harry had never had Veritaserum before and it was weird.

The second it went down his throat, everything just seemed to fade out. Like a sleeping potion but he was very much awake. Like cutting but without the sting. It was disorientating and a question echoed around him. He was unable to locate it's source but found himself answering the question truthfully.

"You have been having detentions with Dolores Umbridge since the start of the school year, correct?"

" _Yes_." His voice was flat and emotionless, like a robot.

"How long would these detentions go on for?"

" _Around 6 hours._ " He could have sworn he heard gasps but they just smoothed out into the hum surrounding him.

"When would they start?"

" _7 pm._ "

"Would that mean that they finish around 1 in the morning?" the voice said, slightly shocked.

" _Yes._ " He said blankly.

"What would happen in these detentions, Harry?"

" _I would write lines._ "

"What line?" The voice questioned him.

" _I must not tell lies._ "

"Did the quill do anything that a normal quill would not do?"

" _Yes._ "

"Like what?"

" _The words that I wrote would be written in my own blood from the back of my hand._ "

"Did it leave a scar?"

" _Yes._ "

He disconnectedly felt something lift up part of him, what part he wasn't sure, he just felt like a floating cloud. The voice mumbled below him.

"Let the record show that there is scar tissue resembling those words on the back of Mr Potter's hand." It wasn't a question so Harry didn't respond. He felt part of his mass being lowered but then lost track of it in the haze again. But the haze was rapidly fading and his blurry white vision was slowly becoming clearer and sharper.

"I think we are done, is the Veritaserum wearing off?" Harry was still under the effects partially so answered alongside the auror.

"Yes." Said the auror.

" _Yes._ " Said Harry. The auror snorted and a few people smiled.

"Unless anyone has any further questions" Amelia said quickly, sensing that Harry was almost done. She tried to avoid using a question. Everyone shook their heads. Harry blinked once, twice, and then shook his head.

"That's strange." He muttered, his voice back to normal, and Sirius laughed quietly. Amelia smiled again and indicated a floating dish of swirling white water.

"This is a pensieve- you will need to put your memory in there for us to see it. I will cast a mass projection spell so more than two can enter. We will need the first detention and then the most recent."

Tonks hurried over, turns out she was the Auror in front of him, and helped him figure it out. Soon he had a long strand of a silvery memory connected to his wand and he placed it in the pensieve. The water went grey and glittered. Harry took a step back. Amelia raised her wand and cast a projection spell- Harry had never heard of it but it seemed to work.

The entire courtroom found themselves on their feet wandering up a staircase with Harry. A few people were taking nostalgic looks around Hogwarts. Harry reached Umbridge's door and walked inside.

Umbridge gestured to a desk and he sat. The door swung shut and anyone who was outside at the time was transported into the room. It was mildly crowded but everyone could see Harry and Umbridge. They watched as she handed him a sharp red quill.

" _As punishment, you'll be writing some lines Mr Potter."_

A few growls were heard over the room and Sirius pulled present-Harry into a tight hug. He resisted flinching.

 _Past-Harry smirked slightly._ Remus looked at present-Harry.

"Why are you smiling?" he said.

"I thought the idea of lines was a bit anticlimactic- I didn't know." Present-Harry replied.

 _They saw past-Harry search the desk._

" _You haven't given me any ink, Professor." Past-Harry said, imitating her condescending tone._

Sirius snorted and a few laughs were dotted about. However a thick tension was in the air as everyone anticipated what they knew was to come next.

 _Her smile was replaced with a baring of teeth and she practically spat at him, sneering._

" _Oh, you won't need any. You will write 'I must not tell lies', for as long as I tell you to. Go."_

Sirius tightened his arms around present-Harry.

"Not need any ink, my ass."

He muttered as various conversations broke out. Many glares were directed at Past-Umbridge, as Present-Umbridge wasn't allowed in. she was still back in the courtroom. Present-Harry wondered if their bodies were still in there or they had fully gone into this memory. He inwardly shrugged and resumed watching.

 _Past-Harry rolled his eyes._

Tonks and a few Aurors chuckled. Kid had guts; you had to give him that.

 _He pressed the tip of the quill to the page and scratched out his first line._

 _I must not tell lies._

Everyone held their breath.

 _The ink was a dark thick red._

A few people winced at the sight of it.

 _Past-Harry turned it over and watched as the exact words he had just written engraved themselves onto the back of his hand. Blood bubbled up to the surface._

Everyone was shouting and looking at both Harry's. Umbridge's name was tossed about in a not so friendly way. Hermione had tears in her eyes and had reached out to take present-Harry's non-scarred hand. Well, non-Umbridge-scarred hand. He squeezed it reassuringly.

 _Past-Harry shrugged and carried on._

"Harry, why didn't you stop?" Breathed Professor McGonagall. Her lion was looking so nonchalant, it killed her. He shouldn't care so little about himself.

 _Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Umbridge's sadistic smirk fall away and be replaced by one of anger._

"I didn't want her to see that she had won." Present-Harry replied and a few people looked sadly at him.

 _He grinned to himself darkly and continued mutilating his own hand._

Quite a lot flinched at his smirk- they had never seen that before. It made Harry look very dangerous. Sirius gazed at Present-Harry warily. He wasn't afraid, oh god no, it was just that his pup was smiley or thoughtful. He didn't like to think that Harry had a bad side, but after all he had been through, no-one could blame him for getting angry.

Present-Harry shrugged. He looked like a Slytherin plotting something and remembered the sorting hat's words from all those years ago.

 _I must not tell lies._ The line was written again and by that point, most were feeling quite sick and Amelia pulled them all out.

They landed back in the courtroom, Umbridge now looking suitably nervous. Amelia adjusted her suit and her eyes bored into Umbridge.

"All in favour of conviction of all charges?"

Likewise with Sirius, all of them raised their hands. Umbridge screamed furiously as her verdict was given. It was hard to hear over her screeches but Sirius happily told him that she had been sentenced to 9 years in Azkaban. The Aurors undid her chains whilst pinning her down then dragged her, kicking and screaming, out the door. The press went wild and everyone followed them out. The next thing that happened was unprecedented.

Umbridge stopped her flailing and went limp in the Aurors' arms. They looked down then at each other and that was all the distraction she needed. Umbridge snatched a wand out of an Auror's hand and banished them away from her. It wasn't very effective but they went flying.

Harry was just turning around the corner of the door when she victoriously screeched:

"Crucio!"

She was about 6 foot away- he couldn't dodge it even if he had warning. The crowd gasped as a sickly red bolt shot towards Harry and hit him straight in the chest. Sirius shouted something unintelligible. Harry felt the pain, though it was weak. But it looked like Voldemort had actually done him a favour- by building up his tolerance, he had made Harry get used to it. A single spell barely affected him anymore.

So, as everyone gawped in horror, awaiting the screams, Harry merely snorted. His wand was out in a heartbeat and he sent a stunner to the shocked woman. He pocketed his wand then straightened out his t-shirt casually. He internally cringed at what he would see when he looked up. Every eye was wide and on him. The room was so silent; you could hear a pin drop.

"H-Har-ry?" Sirius stuttered in awe.

"I'm fine, Sirius." Harry replied steadily. Then the room imploded. The Aurors grabbed Umbridge and this time, physically dragged her away. The ministry workers were arguing with each other and sending glances of fear at Harry. The press was just screaming his name over and over. Harry grabbed his friend, family and Professor and together they dashed to the floo.

 **00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

 **There are marks on my ceiling from where I've squished bugs. It's like a zero gravity graveyard. I hope the rest take it as a warning.**

 **Haven't got long until school starts. Probs better start that hella big ton of homework.**


	26. Dragonhide and Teachers

**Once again, this was written in the car so it may be slightly nonsensical. Sorry not sorry.**

 **LAST CHAPTER OF BOOK 1!**

 **Dedicated to all of you, who read all my rubbish writing… Well guess what? There are 2 more books I will torture you with! MWAHAHAHAHA!**

 **It's a bit short but I didn't know how to finish it.**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 26

Harry paced rapidly in his dormitory. Okay, so maybe he hadn't told his friends and family everything. He may have led them to think that the injuries he had at that precise time he escaped were the only ones he had sustained. They didn't know that he had been healed many times. They didn't even know how bad it really was. The state he was in then was barely anything. What the death eaters had done before... Well he could see why others compared being Voldemort's prisoner to being in hell.

They had nearly killed him the first time; he would never forget the horrifying end of the first week. He could barely move without his body spasming violently. He didn't precisely know why he ran away in the ministry, but he certainly didn't want to explain in front of the press. He didn't want their sympathy. Come on, a tolerance to the Cruciatus curse? The curse designed to floor full grown wizards and witches? The curse that had driven Neville's parents insane?

Ron walked in, pushing Harry's thoughts away. Harry stopped mid pace.

"Harry." Ron said, surprised. "I thought you were still at the trial?"

"Nah, it finished. Umbridge is going to Azkaban for just under a decade."

"That's great." Ron said enthusiastically, before he gave Harry a soft look.

"So what's wrong?"

Harry looked up sharply. Ron shrugged.

"Mate, you're pacing and looking strange. What happened?"

Harry sighed and fell backwards onto the bed. Somehow, one of his smaller dams broke, and he found himself telling Ron about the trial.

"And then right at the end, she threw a Cruciatus at me and-"

"What?" Ron exclaimed angrily, his ears red in protectiveness.

"It was fine, it didn't hurt much, I kind of, uh, built up a sort of tolerance." Harry said, wincing at the poor wording and looking at the floor. Ron's eyebrows practically disappeared under his glaring orange hairline.

"Come again?" He questioned, reminding Harry of Ron's oldest brother, Bill. They had spent some time together during some of the training sessions to talk about runes, and had got along well.

"I just…it just doesn't hurt as much as it used to anymore." Harry said, internally berating himself at the pathetic excuse. Merlin, it was like he couldn't talk at the moment. Some form of understanding passed through Ron's eyes.

"You got used to it?" He said, pitching his voice low to stop it from trembling. Whether it was fear or rage, he didn't know. "Harry, you built up a tolerance to _the Cruciatus Curse?_ The curse that specifically tortures? I've never heard of that before, ever. Ummm…do you, Merlin, how do I even respond to that? I guess it could be useful…?" Ron trailed off, poking at the red and gold bedspread. Harry opened his mouth to respond before a shifting movement at the door had him on his feet, hand resting on his pocketed wand. It was Sirius. Harry nodded- of course; he would have come after him after his speedy dash from Dumbledore's floo.

"Ron, can you give us a minute?" Sirius asked politely, leaning against the door frame. Ron murmured assent then ducked under Sirius' arm and down the stairs, his footsteps echoing further away. Harry stared resolutely at the floor before callused fingers came to rest on his jaw. His head was gently pulled up to level with his godfathers and Harry saw a deep emotion in their grey depths.

"Harry, you don't have to talk about _why_ , I just heard everything. And even if I didn't, I wouldn't push it. Trust me, I do know about building up tolerances." He took a slow breath before continuing. "At first, in, uh, Azkaban, the dementors were bad. Really bad."

At this Harry glanced up comfortingly. His godfather rarely talked about Azkaban and it was good for him to open up about it. Sirius was trying to get him to do the same, to tell him but Harry couldn't. He didn't want to bring that back up. No, he bottled it away, on a mental shelf that had way too many bottles on it.

"But after a while, it just went fuzzy. Being Padfoot helped as well. It just faded into nothingness, like when you drink Veritaserum. Of course, you know what that is like, don't you? You looked hilarious, by the way."

Harry cracked a weak smile and Sirius slowly pulled him into a bear hug. Harry rested his forehead against his Godfather's chest and breathed out. His cuts rubbed against the thick material of his long sleeve t-shirt. Could he tell Sirius? Surely he'd understand.

"This new thing doesn't change who you are, Harry." Sirius muttered. Harry froze at those words. Who you are? I'm a freak, Harry told himself. Just like my relatives said, just like the ministry said and just like what Voldemort said. This isn't something to be proud of. It just means that I was too weak to fight it off. Weak. Pathetic. Useless. Freak. Unwanted. Burden. Murderer…

Sirius withdrew from the hug, unaware that he had unintentionally made things slightly worse. He took a look at Harry's vague expression and just assumed he was thinking about his words. Well he was, just not in the way he thought. He slapped the side of the bed cheerfully, not noticing Harry's flinch.

"Well, the headmaster has called a general meeting for everyone in the great hall. Something about a big announcement…"He trailed off, grinning mischievously. Harry sent him a suspicious look.

"Guess, you'll have to see!" he said, and sprinted down the stairs like a child. Harry followed him reluctantly and they joined a crowd of Gryffindors going to the hall. A few murmurs and wide eyes followed Sirius but he appeared to brush it off. Harry still nudged his shoulder and quirked the side of his mouth in question.

"I'm fine, pup. Trust me, a few kids muttering is nothing. Besides I'm too excited for the announcement." Sirius whispered happily. Harry was now officially anxious for whatever Dumbledore was about to say. Considering the man had brought the Triwizard tournament to Hogwarts the last time Sirius was this excited- well, his hopes weren't high.

They turned a corner and Sirius disappeared in the throng of students. Harry's smile fell slightly and he slipped into the great hall. Hermione was already there and waved him over. He took a seat opposite her, so Ron could sit next to his girlfriend when he arrived.

"Harry, do you know what is about to be announced?" she asked, leaning forwards. Her hair trailed on the table. Harry shrugged.

"Sirius is excited, whatever it is."

Ron appeared with Ginny from the shrinking crowd of bustling students trying to get to their tables. Ginny flopped down in a seat by Harry and Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione. He kissed her on the nose and she giggled. It was very un-Hermione but looked right when she was with Ron. He caught Ginny's eye as she made violent throwing up actions and smiled, but even she looked happy for them. They were a surprisingly good pair, opposites attract and all that. Harry found himself scanning the teachers table before a thought got planted in his head.

"It's probably something to do with a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher." Harry pondered out loud, eyes fixed on the empty chair. His eyes widened at the same time Hermione's did.

"You don't think-?" She said.

"No, he wouldn't, would he?" Harry replied.

"His background?"

"Cleared, remember?"

"Oh Merlin." Hermione shook her head. Ron and Ginny looked distinctly confused but shrugged it off as the noise in the room faded. Dumbledore approached the bronze lectern in his bright purple robes. A few sniggers echoed around, mainly by the Slytherins, but everyone else was sat in anticipation.

"After our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher was removed, I have yet again been faced with the task of finding a new one." Dumbledore started, confirming their suspicions. "I asked around, and a name kept popping up. Apparently, he was regarded as one of the best Defense against the Dark Arts teachers Hogwarts has had."

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Remus?" They both mouthed as Hermione grinned. Ginny also looked happy. Indeed, they were correct as Dumbledore announced:

"Therefore, I am proud to welcome Professor Lupin back into the position. He is perfectly safe and will have a full supply of Wolfsbane so-"

Whatever Dumbledore was about to say was lost as every house but Slytherin stood up and cheered. Remus slipped in through the doors and took a seat at the head table, blushing heavily. Snape looked furious. But Dumbledore wasn't finished yet.

"And joining him, as an assistant Professor will be newly cleared and innocent, Sirius Black!" The clapping died out slightly as everyone exchanged nervous looks.

"Well honestly," Hermione muttered. "He was cleared just a few days ago. No-one knows what he's really like."

All of a sudden, fireworks shot towards the ceiling and exploded in a vibrant burst of colour. Honeyduke's sweets fell down from the red smoke and Sirius waltzed in, looking very pleased with himself. He had changed his clothes, and was now wearing a battered black dragonhide jacket. The clapping increased. He nodded at Harry imperceptibly, grinning like a lunatic. It probably wouldn't have helped him without the special effects, but the firework and sweets seemed to win over quite a few students. He conjured another seat by Remus, who was fondly shaking his head. Snape looked positively murderous.

"I assure you, Professor Black is as dangerous as I am. Please treat him as you would any other professor." Dumbledore said. "Now, I believe it is time for bed. Off you go, lickety split!" The room burst into conversation and many grins were seen by those who had had Remus before.

For the first time in a few weeks, Harry felt a true smile wash over his face. The closest things he had to family were happy and within walking distance. His friends were happy. He had a good Defense against the Dark Arts professor (professors) for once and just in time for his OWLs.

Things were getting better.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Sequel will be posted ASAP!**

 **Thanks to everyone who has stuck by this, even when chapter 1 only had 714 words. (bad times- we do not speak of it.)**

 **I'll be back, my little muffins!**


End file.
